“Thank God For Godly Women”
May 10, 2009 (Mother’s Day)
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you.
It is a tradition to honor Mothers on this day, and we want to extend special honor to you today, though I hope we don’t make the same mistakes some pastors I know have made.
For example, I heard of a pastor who ordered roses to hand out to all the Moms in the congregation. He asked the church secretary to pick them up on Friday and bring them to church on Sunday. Well, apparently her husband did not send her flowers very often — because she didn’t put them in water or place them in the refrigerator when she picked them up on Friday — she just left them on her kitchen counter. She dutifully brought them to church on Sunday morning — all wrapped in their paper — and placed them on the altar. As the Pastor began passing out the roses he unwrapped them — and there were the pitiful looking, lifeless roses. As he handed each mother a wilted flower he could not help but wonder about the message that was being conveyed to the mothers by giving them dead roses on their special day!
And then there’s the story of the young associate pastor who was called upon to read the Scripture on Mother’s Day. He was to read from 2 Timothy 1:5 — the passage we are looking at today — which says:
I have been reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and, I am now persuaded, lives in you also.
It’s a lovely homage to Christian motherhood and quite appropriate for Mothers’ Day. But the young associate was nervous, and when he stepped into the pulpit he read from 1 Timothy 1:6 instead of 2 Timothy 1:5. – and to make matters worse, he began by saying:
“I would like to dedicate today’s reading to all of the wonderful Mothers in our congregation.”
He then began reading began reading1 Timothy 1:6 instead of 2 Timothy 1:5.
1 Timothy 1:6 says:
Some of you have wandered from the faith and have turned to meaningless talk. You want to be teachers of the law, but you do not know what you’re talking about…The law is not made for the righteous, but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, for those who kill their fathers and mothers…
Not surprisingly, shortly thereafter, that young associate pastor felt a call to another avenue of ministry.
So. today, when we honor the Mothers in our congregation, we hope to do it right!
There’s an old saying that:
“God couldn’t be everywhere at once, so he made moms.”
That statement may not be theologically accurate, but it does convey the right attitude towards motherhood — moms fill a place in our lives that no one else can fill.
I remember seeing a cartoon once in which a little boy was talking on the phone, saying something to the effect of, “That’s right, Grandma. Mom’s out of town, so me and Dad and Tommy and Sarah and Fido are here all alone.”
Maybe that’s the way it feels in your house when “Mom” is away.
I don’t think we do it on purpose … but we tend to place different expectations on moms than we do on dads … especially at meal time. For example, maybe this has happened in your house:
The husband says, “What’s for dinner?”
The wife says, “I’ll need to run to the store first…we don’t have any food in the house.”
The husband replies: “Can’t you just ‘whip something up’?”
Sound familiar?
Why is it that we think our wives can go in the kitchen and create a meal out of nothing?
That scene may play out differently if mom isn’t around.
The kids might come in and say, “What’s for dinner?”
Dad might look in the freezer, and if there’s nothing microwavable, he might say: “Who wants to go out for Pizza?”
No one ever says to Dad, “Can’t you just go in the kitchen and whip something up?”
Now, I’m not trying to perpetuate sexist stereotypes, and I’m certainly not saying that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. But – I am saying that in our society women are bombarded with many dual roles and mixed messages. It is typically expected of them to work outside the home, to consistently “whip something up” for meals on a limited budget, to get the kids off to school with matching socks and shoes on the correct feet, to maintain the family’s social calendar, and on and on. It’s not an easy job—which is why we need today – and every day – to say “Thank you!”
Every mom here is aware that her job involves much more than cooking and cleaning and carpooling. It involves nurture, it involves guidance, it involves building character. And, as I have learned with my own mom, the job doesn’t end when a child moves out of the house.
So — on Mother’s day preachers stand in pulpits and extol the virtues of motherhood. You, perhaps, came to Church today expecting to hear a typical Mother’s Day sermon – but maybe this will be more than typical.
You see – as much as I appreciate and have been blessed by my Mom – and as much as all of u s have been blessed by and nurtured by our mothers – I want to expand the typical “thanks Mom” of Mother’s Day to say:
“Thanks”
“Bless you!”
“Thanks for all you do!”
To all of the women of the Church who play such a vital role in shaping the lives of the children, youth, and indeed all of us in the Church.
“Thanks”
“Bless you!”
“Thanks for all you do!”
To all the women of the Church who do so much to help us accomplish what we accomplish as a Church.
The sign out front today – and indeed the sermon title in the bulletin for today – says:
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
Yes – thank God for Godly mothers – but – more than that –
Thank God For Godly Women
I am so thankful for the Godly mothers of Hopewell.
But – I am really thankful for all the Godly women of Hopewell – whether they are mothers or not – married or single – who play such a vital role in our Church. The Godly women who play such a vital role in the Christian education and nurture of our young people – who play such a vital role in all aspects of our Church – serving in the kitchen as well as on the Session – busying themselves with the crafts as well as with the leadership – working behind the scenes and in the spotlight – wherever you look at Hopewell, you will find a Godly woman – whether they are mothers or not – blessing us all by their commitment to being the people God has called them to be and leading us as a Church to be the Church God is calling us to be.
So – yes – I say thank God for Godly mothers – but more than that I say:
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
In our lesson from 2 Timothy for today, Paul is giving praise to God for the faith of Timothy – a faith his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois passed on to him.
Passing on the faith.
Making sure that others know about God.
That’s the work of Godly mothers – but more than that – that’s the work of Godly women.
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
When Paul wrote 2 Timothy he was in prison. He had been arrested for preaching the Gospel of Christ in disobedience to Caesar’s order. Paul sent Timothy, the young man he led to the Lord, to Ephesus to tend to the Church there in his absence. Paul established the Ephesian Church when he returned from his second missionary journey. Ephesus was an important place to establish a Church, as it was the capital city of 230 independent communities in the Roman province of Asia. If the Gospel was preached in Ephesus, it would spread outward from there like spokes on a wagon wheel. The Church was just beginning in a land famous for it’s idolatry and sexual infidelity. Before Roman rule people in Ephesus had engaged in child sacrifice while worshipping idols. When Roman rule established order such sacrifices were forbidden, yet people still worshipped at these pagan temples. Ephesus was a battleground between Christianity and paganism, between Godliness and Satanism. Into this battleground Paul sent one young man to be a leader while he could not be there himself. Many people would think this was foolish — what could one young man do? Yet Paul sent Timothy in large part because of the work that his mother and grandmother had begun in him when he was a child – and the faith that had been planted in him.
Paul knew that Timothy grew up in a Godly home. The NIV says Timothy had a sincere faith. This faith began in his grandmother, was passed down to his mother, who in turn passed it down to him. Though neither directly led Timothy to salvation, Paul did – but it was his grandmother’s and mother’s actions that planted a seed that would one day blossom into the flower of Christian faith.
All this is to say that Lois and Eunice were Godly women in a time when godliness was unfashionable.
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God for women who are willing to be Godly – even when it may not be fashionable or popular or easy. Godly women – women who are willing to step up to the plate and give of themselves – their time – their very souls to serve God and others in the Church and the community – are a blessing.
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
We need more of you!
In the aftermath of the tragic shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, I had someone ask me what I thought had happened to the yojng men who committed the crime that they could do such a cold – blooded thing.
I explained that — when I saw the faces of the young gunmen — I did not see two children who looked like they could be capable of such a thing. They did not look like monsters who could enter a schoolhouse and, after killing all they could, turned the guns on themselves. They looked more like two boys who were hurting and confused – and needed someone to tell them about God’s love. Somehow the message of God’s love and care for them didn’t get to them – as it did to Timothy when his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois raised him and taught him about God. These were Godly women in a time when being Godly was not easy or popular – but they were Godly nonetheless.
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
We need more of you!
Recent studies show that the average child will spend 6 minutes a day talking to their parents, while spending hours of unsupervised time watching television or on the internet.
There is a battle going on around every person in today’s world. Everyone can choose and live their own lives either in evil ways or God’s ways. If the devil can get us to ignore God while maintaining what is called a “politically correct” lifestyle, then the devil has won that battle- But if we follow God’s will for us, them we can win the battle for the Godliness in our homes – our Church – our communities – and our world.
To do that, we need to teach our young people God’s ways.
And to do that, we need more Godly adults – men and women who are willing to be Godly when being Godly is not easy or popular.
I hope you men haven’t tuned me out already – because this goes for you also – and on your day in June I’ll talk more about that – but today let’s look at Godly women.
I thank God for Godly women – the women of Hopewell willing to step up to the plate and give of themselves – their time – their very souls to serve God and others in the Church and the community – are a blessing. What you do makes a difference!
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
We need more of you!
So – what does it take to be a Godly woman – a woman who is willing to step up to the plate and make a difference – who is willing to give of yourself — your time – your very self to serve God?
First, it takes accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. You can’t be a Godly woman until you do that. You have to choose the way of God over the way of the world.
In Romans 12:2 Paul urges Christians:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The world offers many trinkets that look beautiful, yet turn out to be just trash.
My niece lived in England for some time and has told me about a tradition there of opening a “popper” at the Christmas meal. A “popper” is a colorfully wrapped tube filled with prizes. When you pulled on it, it “popped” like a cap gun, tore in half, and the prizes came out. A “popper” was very pretty, but the greatest part of opening them was the loud bang. That’s because each “popper” was filled, not with wonderful prizes, but with trashy gifts that were even below the quality of a Cracker Jack prize. Outwardly the “poppers” were beautiful, but what was in them was useless.
A lot of times, the things the world wants you to follow are like these “poppers” — outwardly beautiful yet inwardly full of uselessness.
Mothers, your family needs you to be in Christ. You may be the most outwardly beautiful woman in this Church today, but if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior then that beauty is indeed only skin deep.
Women – the same holds true for you – you need to be beautiful – in Christ – a Godly woman – who loves God and is willing to step up and help tell others about Christ.
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
We need more of you!
So – accepting Christ is the first step to being a godly woman.
The second step is — seek internal godliness rather than dwell on external vanity. Paul wrote top Timothy is 1 Timothy 2:9-10
9I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
Now — Paul was not saying that women should not groom themselves. What Paul is saying is to not let let your outward grooming take the place of your inward godliness. The “good deeds” Paul is referring to here are deeds that reflect a Christ centered heart, deeds that reflect godliness. You should be as well groomed on the inside as you are on the outside. Don’t spend all of your time grooming yourself and your household while neglecting prayer and time in the Word of God. You must see to your inner person. You must be concerned about your spiritual growth.
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
We need more of you!
So – accepting Christ is the first step to being a godly woman.
Seeking internal godliness is the second.
The third is – be willing to spend time with and train your children if you are a mother – or any child who needs it – in the Church or not – whether you are a mother of not. Yes, we are a fallen people, and we produce fallen offspring. Yes, even children from good homes can rebel. Yet Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14-15:
4But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
I imagine Timothy, as he was growing up, made all the same mistakes that our own children (and we ourselves) made. I believe that he went through his rebellious stage, that he spent time experimenting in the world, that he perhaps went out “with the boys” and did all the wrong things.
Yet his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice planted the seeds of the Gospel in his heart by teaching him from the time he was a child. They shared with him a love of the Scriptures. Later on in his life when Paul led him to Christ, this foundation laid by his godly mother and grandmother came into play.
That’s the influence of a Godly woman!
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
We need more of you!
I read of a man who. as a young child, prayer a simple prayer his mother taught him. Maybe you prayed it also – I know I did. The prayer was:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray, dear Lord, my soul to take.
He prayed this prayer as a small child, kneeling at the foot of his bed. His mother came in every night to kiss me goodnight, and she’d always ask, “Have you brushed your teeth and said your prayers?”. If he had forgotten, he’d get up from the bed and say his prayers. As a teenager he, out of rebellion, ran away from home – but he prayed the same prayer he lay in his bunk – scared — Juvenile Hall in California. Some time after that, he was knocked unconscious and left for dead by one of his “friends” while out partying late one night – and when he woke up in the hospital the next day he prayed the same prayer. Finally, he accepted Christ as his savior and – with tears in his eyes – prayed that same child’s prayer. He says now that the prayer meant something to him as a child, but it meant so much more now. That simple prayer his godly mother taught him finally brought him to Christ.
That’s the influence of a Godly woman!
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
We need more of you!
We need the godly women we have at Hopewell – and we need more of them! We need more women who — whether they are mothers or not – married or single – are willing to play a vital role in our Church. We need more Godly women are willing to play a vital role in the Christian education and nurture of our young people – whoa re willing to play a vital role in all aspects of our Church – willing to serve in the kitchen as well as on the Session – willing to busy themselves with crafts as well as with leadership – willing to work behind the scenes and in the spotlight – willing to work wherever and do whatever is needed – and bless us all by their commitment to being the people God has called them to be and leading us as a Church to be the Church God is calling us to be.
We need women who know Jesus as their savior – who are seeking internal Godliness – and who are committed to taking the time to train our young people in God’s ways – or do whatever they can – to make Hopewell the Church God would have us be! –
Certainly we need men with the same commitment – but today I want us to celebrate what the Godly women are doing – and call on others to do the same. We’ll focus on the men next month. But – for now – I – and I believe all of us – want to say:
“Thanks”
“Bless you!”
“Thanks for all you do!”
Yea –
Thank God For Godly Women
Thank God For Godly Women
We need more of you! Amen.
