Title: Honor for Mother Summary: The Bible tells us to honor our parents. Only through obedience to this command can we have an honorable relationship with our family and children and God. Honor begets honor, and dishonor begets dishonor. Function: To show the hearers why they need to honor their mothers, and some practical ways to do it Text: Eph 6:2-3 Scripture Reading: 2 Tim 2:21-22 Intro: 1. Children told mother to stay in bed one mother’s day a. Soon, smelled bacon, she waited for breakfast in bed b. An hour went by, so she went downstairs to see c. Kids, eating at table, one said - “Surprise, we made our own breakfast” 2. Today set aside to honor mothers a. Mother’s are among most loving, tender, yet strongest people on earth b. God sometimes used analogy of mother’s love to describe his own 3. So today has been set aside to honor mothers, truly a vessel of honor 4. Will talk this morning about what it means to honor our mother I. What is honor? A. Definition: 1. Heb: Kabed, Yaqar - Honor, glory, heavy, wealth, dignity, precious 2. Grk: Time or Doxa - Honor, value, price, glory 3. Idea: Value B. Examples of use: 1. Psalm 139:17-18 - Translated “precious” (honorable, priceless) 2. 1 Pet 3:7 - Honor your wife, value her 3. 1 Cor 6:20 - You have been bought with a “price” (honor) 4. Rom 12:10 - Outdo one another in showing honor (value them) C. ILL: We were honored shortly right after moving to Vermont 1. Dennis came and bought our first set of snow tires 2. We didn’t make much money 3. We periodically got anonymous gifts, food, etc. 4. We were shown honor D. “Honor is a decision we make to place high value, worth and importance on another person by viewing him or her as a priceless gift and granting him or her a position in our lives worthy of great respect, and love involves putting that decision into action.” - Smalley and Trent II. Eph 6:2-3 - Honor our Mother A. This is the first commandment with a promise B. In what way will it go well with you if you honor your parents? 1. Good for health, especially if you hold a grudge a. ILL: Knew someone just despised and hated mother - Never said so to her face, so always nervous wreck - Carrying that around took toll on her health - Negative attitude worsened b. Fight or flight syndrome - Triggered when knew mother coming over - Caused depression, paranoia, etc. c. If she chose to honor her mother, that eliminate it d. Prov 20:20 - Lamp go out in darkness if curse mother 2. Will help to find a good mate (attract the right ones) 3. Will help in various relationships, at work etc. - Shows character 4. Good for your own children a. You model for your kids b. How you treat parents indicate how they treat you C. ILL: Beatrice despised her mother, the perfectionist 1. When villan on T.V. used it to put down mother a. Good on T.V., said - She loves her kids, unlike mother b. Kids hear her saying all this c. Grew up thinking Grandma wicked witch of the west 2. When first met grandma at five, punched her a. They surprised when meet Grandma - She not as big and mean as they thought - Their mother was so much like her b. They were confused at mother’s dishonor of grandma 3. Eventually, they began to mistreat mother and father a. Started with dishonoring grandma b. Like scatter gun, mother would get hit to c. Why? Mother a part of grandmother 4. Mom was tough to live with anyway a. She not different than grandma b. Problem? Mom hostage to anger, low self worth c. Dishonoring her mother by not calling, and comments only hurt her and hurt her children D. (Prov 30:11-14) - Evidence of this in Beatrice’s life 1. She became hard to live with 2. She is passing it on to her kids a. Honor begets honor, dishonor begets dishonor b. Not honor mother, no honor in her own home c. Have serious consequences on children 3. Passage not say - Honor them only if they deserve it a. Often times that is world’s philosophy b. God says to honor them --- period 4. This is truly first command with a promise III. How do we honor our mother? A. Passages from Proverbs 1. Prov 1:8 - Listen to mother’s advice 2. Prov 17:25; 27:11 - Be wise, don’t be stupid 3. Prov 15:30 - Share good news with them 4. Prov 31:3 - don’t get involved in immoral relationships 5. Prov 31:28 - Bless mother, praise her, say thanks B. Notice nothing said about buying her a flower 1. Prov 31:28 could sort of say something like that 2. But emphasis is on lifestyle of honoring her a. Value her enough to listen to her advice b. Value her enough to share good news (call her up) c. I don’t bring sorrow on her by stupid choices 3. Used to ask mom what she want for a gift a. I hated it - She said - “Do well, be happy” b. Now as a parent, I understand where she coming from 4. When our lives show we value mother’s teaching and relationship - That honors her C. But I’m not going to just stop with that general statement Here are some things mother’s have said that honored them: 1. Getting a card other than on mother’s day 2. Cassette tape from my son that looked back at what I had done 3. Hugging me whenever we are together 4. Doing chores without being asked 5. When my children reach out and help others less fortunate 6. When my daughter asks my advice 7. When my children pray for me 8. When I see my son seeking after God 9. In teen years, my children came to talk about taboo things 10. Getting a special thank you after babysitting grandkids 11. When my daughter named her daughter after me 12. I had heard that my son praised and defended me 13. My son admitting he was wrong in way he treating wife and agreed to get marriage counseling 14. My daughter helped pay some bills when in tight spot 15. At husbands funeral, my kids came up and said they would love me and take care of me as I grew older 16. Watching the way my son treats his wife and family, and hearing him say he learned it from us D. When God made us men, he knew something was missing 1. His answer - Wife and Mother 2. Us men could never mother as well as mothers do 3. Thank God for mothers Concl: 1. If your mother live someplace else - Call her today 2. Honor her, teach your children to honor her 3. Prayer 4. Invitation Questions for Small Group Discussion