Happy Mother's Day!
(Need: a bag, a map, an orange, a thermometer, and
a toy house)
There once was a young minister in a Presbyterian Church who heard that the retired moderator of the
General Assembly was coming to visit his congregation on a Sunday that just happened to be Mother’s Day. Anxious as
he was to make a good impression he began his sermon with the words, “Friends in the congregation, I have to tell you something. I need you to
know that I have spent the best years of my life in the arms of another man’s wife.” There was a brief startled
pause until he clarified the situation by telling them “My mother.”
The
next week, the elderly moderator was preaching at a nearby congregation. “Dearly beloved,” he began, “I
want you to know that I have spent the best years of my life in the arms of another man’s wife.” There was again
a pause… after which he said, “And to tell you the truth, right now, I can’t remember who it was!”
All
of which is a timely reminder - never forget your mother!
I
have bought some things along today to remind me about Mother’s Day and the sorts of things mothers often do. When we
put them all together they’ll make the word “Mother.”
M My first item I have in my bag to show you begins with the letter M. It’s a map (hold up the map). This map reminds me that moms take you places – to school, to a friends house, out
to the shops, even to church. Now you may not always want to go where mom’s
going, but she’ll still take you with her. A map reminds us that moms spend
a lot of time taking us places.
But
a map does more than that. It guides us in the right direction. That’s another thing that mothers try to do for their
children. Guide them in the right way to go and teach them the right way to live
their lives.
O The
second letter of Mother is O, resembling an orange
(hold up the orange). How many will expect mother to have dinner ready when they get home from school? And what about
breakfast when you get up? An orange reminds us that it often falls on a mom’s shoulders to see the family is fed. A
mother nourishes a family. So don’t forget to say thank you and I’m sure help with washing up or cooking is appreciated
to whenever you offer it!
T The third letter is T.
If you’re sick, it’s often mom who looks after you. Moms take care of us and help us to get well. A thermometer (hold up thermometer) reminds us of the moms who look after us when we
are down and help us get better again.
H The fourth letter, H,
reminds us of Home (hold up toy house). When I lived at home, it usually fell on
mom’s shoulders to keep the place tidy. I must confess, I didn’t
always help the process much. Mother spent all day getting the place clean and I’d come home with my shoes all dirty.
“Don’t you walk on that carpet with your muddy shoes!” Do things like that ever happen in your house?
Reminds
me of the joke about the dad who looked out of the window and saw his son climbing on the roof. In panic he shouted out “If
you fall off that roof and break both your legs don’t run crying to me!”
But
it’s not the roof; it’s the house that we’re thinking of, and I’ve brought my little house to remind
us that it’s usually left up to moms to keep the house tidy.
E My bag’s empty. But I’m not suggesting E for ‘empty’. The last two letters stand for things which
you have brought with you. I’ll give you a clue about the first one. They (and there are 2 of them) begin with the fifth
letter of Mother and are hanging on your head. Without them you wouldn’t hear a word.
It’s
ears. Mums are usually people we expect to listen to us. We tell them our problems,
and share our good times to. If they’re not too busy doing all the other things they have to do, they are ready with
a listening ear, ready to hear us and help us.
R For our final letter, which is R, I want to go back to our Bible reading from Genesis 2, about the Garden of Eden. And I want us to think about
verses 21 & 22.
“Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, He took
out one of the mans ribs and closed up the flesh. He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him.”
Do
you know where your rib is? It’s a bone right near your heart (feel it).
It’s near to your heart and close to your side. The Bible tells us that Eve was not only the first wife, she was also
the first mother. We celebrate Mother’s Day to remind us that mom is someone to be close by our side and close to our
hearts.
M – Map . . . for someone who shows us the way
O – Orange . . . for someone who feeds us
T – Thermometer . . . for someone who looks after us
H – House . . . for someone who makes our home special
E – Ear . . . for someone ready to listen to us
R – Rib . . . for someone close to our side and near to our hearts
One
of the beautiful things about a good mom is that the way she treats us can remind us of the care God has over our lives. God
has given us the words of the Bible to guide us. God nourishes our spiritual lives through the Holy Spirit, lifts us up when
we fall, makes us feel at home, is always ready to listen to us and is close by our side to bless our lives.
Somebody
has said that God gave us mothers to teach us how to love. So let us thank God for our moms. One thing’s for sure, we
couldn’t be here without them! Like all of you, I was born at an early
age, and although I don’t remember it…I know for certain that my mother was there.
Even
though as we get older there comes a time when we lose our mothers to God’s nearer presence, it’s one of the great
blessings God has given us; that somehow they are always with us. We still hear their words. We are still carry on their prayers.
We still heed their advice. And we even try to pass it on to others.
Today we thank God for the gift of mothers.
And to God’s name be the glory.
AMEN.
(Outline
adapted from the book “40 Object Sermons by J. E. Trull)
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt
