Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all other mothers. I hope you have a wonderful day, free from chores.

The following sermon was taken from Preaching Today.com:

What It Takes to Be a Mother by Mark Mitchell

Exodus 2:1-10; Numbers 26:59; Hebrews 11:23

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Text: Exodus 2:1–10; Numbers 26:59; Hebrews 11:23

Topic: Learning how to be a mother marked by faith

Introduction

• On Mother's Day I like to remind everyone to be good to their mothers and appreciate them more. But today's message is not about how to be good to your mother; today's message is about a mother who had to make some hard choices for the welfare of her son.
• Being a mother or a father isn't for the faint of heart. It requires some tough decisions—decisions that are risky and heart-wrenching, decisions that require faith.

Jochebed: A finely drawn portrait of a mother with faith

• I'd like for us to reflect on the story of Jochebed, the mother of Moses (Numbers 26:59).
• Jochebed is mentioned only a few times in Scripture, but she provides a finely drawn portrait of a mother with faith.
• Hebrews 11:23
• Because Israel had become a threat to the reigning Pharaoh, he forced them into slavery.
• When they continued to grow and prosper, he commanded the Hebrew midwives to throw their newborn sons into the Nile to die.
• It was during this reign of terror that Jochebed became pregnant with her third child.
  Illustration: Mitchell lists modern-day mothers who are living under trying circumstances.
• Every conscientious parent knows how dangerous it is to grow up in our world!
• In the dangerous world in which she found herself, Jochebed stands out because she did what she could to save her child.
• When she could do no more, she depended totally on the faithfulness of God, making her a model of faith.

Jochebed had a courageous faith

• Hebrews 11:23
• Though the king said all the male Hebrew babies had to be thrown into the Nile, Jochebed and her husband disobeyed the king and hid Moses for three months. That takes courage!
  Illustration: Drawing from personal experiences, Mitchell explains just how difficult it must have been to hide the baby.
• We often think of faith as passive—this whole idea of "let go and let God." But real faith is active and willing to take risks.
  Illustration: Mitchell lists modern-day mothers who show a courageous faith.

Jochebed had a sensible faith

• After three months of hiding her baby, she saw the handwriting on the wall. So, she made a little wicker basket, covered it with tar and pitch to make it float, and put it in the reeds on the banks of the Nile.
• The word "basket" is the same word used for "ark" (i.e. Noah), emphasizing the dangerous environment in which Moses was placed.
• Still, what Jochebed did was not careless; it was sensible.
  She didn't just put him in the Nile and wave good-bye; she had Moses' older sister stand at a distance to find out what would happen to him.
  Illustration: Mitchell shares a humorous story about how one woman cleverly dealt with a small fire at her daughter's wedding.
  Illustration: Mitchell lists examples where the sensibility required of a mother is far more consequential.

Jochebed's courageous, sensible faith was rewarded

• As Moses floated along the banks of the Nile, the daughter of Pharaoh arrived with her maidens. She saw the basket and had it brought to her.
• It was standard procedure for a wealthy woman to hire a wet nurse to feed a child until he/she was weaned, and the wet nurse would be the legal guardian during those first years.
• At just the right time, Moses' sister moved in and made an offer to help fulfill that custom.
• Moses' sister went to find Jochebed, who not only got to raise her child, but now got paid for her work!
• Surely you see God's hand in all of this!
• There are things mothers can do, but ultimately they have to leave it in God's hands.
  Illustration: Mitchell lists ways modern-day mothers have to learn how to let go of some things in life.
• One of the interesting things about this passage is the prominent role women with motherly instincts play in the story: Jochebed "saw" that Moses was beautiful; Pharaoh's daughter "saw" the basket and "saw" the child crying; Moses' sister stood in the wings to "know" or "notice" what would happen and when to act.
• All of this foreshadows what God would soon do for his people.
• In Exodus 2:25, it says that God "saw"—same word—"the sons of Israel, and God took notice"—same word—"of them."
• It was God's motherly instincts to "see" us as worthy of delivering from our utterly helpless state through the death, burial, and resurrection of his own Son.

Conclusion

• Illustration: Mitchell offers a final humorous story to illustrate the importance of mothers. As one woman put it: mothers are "socializing … homosapiens into the dominant values of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in order that they might be instruments for the transformation of the social order into the kind of eschatological utopia that God willed from the beginning of creation."
• Mothers, your ultimate purpose is to foster a courageous, sensible faith that will instill in your children a knowledge of, a faith in, and a love for this God who sees and knows your child's deepest need for salvation and has decisively moved to accomplish it through the work of Jesus.
• Don't worry—it's not all up to you! God is partnering with you.