Sermon Cloud

At this time of the year, it’s common for the newspapers or a television news outlet to run stories answering the question, “How much would mom make if she were paid for her work as a mother?” If you were to write up a job description for the position of Mom, how much would the annual salary be? It’s a common question this time of year. And this year, I decided to find the answer myself. I did a little research online and found a website that actually includes your location in its calculation.

According to salary.com, if you could put a monetary value upon the role moms play, moms in Muncie, Indiana, would most likely earn between $59,486 and $147,167 annually.

I’m sure some of you moms are sitting there, wondering where your paycheck is. J Well, I guess you could just assume that the check is in the mail. J

I looked a little deeper into what criteria this particular website used to calculate the salary. They took the 10 typical functions of a mom and determined the approximate value of each role in the economic world. According to salary.com, here’s the 10 titles that best match the definition of mom’s work, in the order of hours spent each week: housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, computer operator, facilities manager, van driver, psychologist, laundry machine operator, janitor and chief executive officer.[1]

As I looked through this list, I noticed that one job in particular is missing. And it’s probably the most important one. (pause) It’s that of a Gardener.

Here’s part of one job description for a gardener: “They are usually responsible for keeping the soil in good condition. They often plant bulbs, flowers, shrubs, or trees. They may water, feed, transplant, and prune them. They often…(attempt)…to control insects, disease, and weeds.”[2]

The ultimate role of the Gardener is to plant the seeds and nurture and that seed to fulfill its intended purpose – whether that’s a flower, tree, bush, or some other type of plant. So they maintain the soil and make sure they’re properly fed and hydrated, and treat them when they’re sick. Ultimately, the Gardener’s job is to do whatever possible to encourage the plant’s proper growth. And in the end, especially if it’s a tree, the Gardener might not see the end result.

Much like a Gardener, a mother’s role is to plant and nurture seeds within their children. Of course, this role isn’t just for mom, but for dad, too. But there’s certainly something special about the way Mom helps nurture the growing faith of her children. Because Mom is a gardener.

If you have your Bibles with you, please turn with me to Exodus, chapter 20. If you don’t have your Bible with you, you’re welcome to use the one found in the pew in front of you. Exodus 20 is found on page 63 in those red Bibles. Exodus is the second book in what we now refer to as the Old Testament. It tells the story about how God delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt and how God took what amounted to a really large family and turned it into His chosen nation. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the beginning of the covenant relationship between God and this new nation. And as we’ve been looking at these 10 Commandments, or what has been traditionally known as the 10 Words, we’ve begun to see that these key concepts to the Law established for the Hebrew people are just as important for us today. It’s important to remember that God’s rules and God’s Law were not a condition of the relationship they had with Him. They were confirmation of their relationship. And the same is true with us: obeying God’s rules and laws, including the 10 Commandments is not a condition of God’s love for us. We cannot do anything to make God love us more than He already does. But God’s rules and laws are a confirmation of the love He has for us.  As we’ve journeyed through the first four commandments, we’ve been reminded that the life in sin from which God has rescued us is not something we should consider going back to. We need to keep our eyes focused on the cross. We cannot look back. And then last week, we were reminded that although it’s very easy to make God’s Law a burden, it’s really an invitation to follow Jesus and rest. These first four Words from the Lord were all focused on God and how we relate to Him.

But today, we come to a hinge in the Ten Words from the Lord. The commandment we’re looking at this morning is a turning point. As we follow God and draw closer to Him, it affects the way we live. And that’s the reminder we have with commandments 5-10. They talk about following God as our Master impacts how we treat other people.

Read Exodus 20:12

Have you ever wondered why God chose to include this command in the list of 10 Words? I mean, if you were God and you decided to come up with a list of 10 Laws upon which all other laws would be based, is “honor your father and mother” really one you’d think to include. I mean, it makes sense to go with “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” and “You will have no graven images.” But “honor your father and mother”? If you were honestly coming up with a list of the 10 key Laws to govern your new nation, would you really include this as one of your 10 ten? (pause) So why did God include this as one of the 10 Words to Live by?

Remember, the people of Israel had already chosen to follow the Lord’s direction. And part of that decision to follow Him includes passing along their faith to the following generations. The concept of the older generation passing on their faith and culture to the younger generations was nothing new. But there was something different in God’s Law here. You see, in the surrounding cultures, women were viewed as second-class citizens, at best. I don’t mean to be crude or crass here, but women were seen as little more than baby factories for the men in the surrounding cultures at this time. With this one sentence, God elevated women to equal status with men.  God reminded His children that all of us were created in the image of God: both men and women. And both the mother and the father should be honored.

But why? Why honor your mother?

If you read the Mother’s Day cards, you’ll get the idea that it’s because they put up with you. You know what I mean, right? She’s the one who wiped your dirty face, changed your dirty diapers, and listened to you scream during the night when you were teething. She kissed your booboos and made you chocolate chip cookies. When you got older, she lived through your tantrums and your teenage issues. And those area all good things to be thankful about. They’re even things to honor mom about. But that’s not the main reason God wants us to honor our mothers.

Mom is a gardener.

It’s the parents that first instill ideas about God and who He is and what He’s like. It’s the parents who make the first impression on children about God. And most of the time, that first impression is a foundation upon which the rest of life is built.

So Mom is a gardener. She helps plant the seed of faith in her children. She waters and feeds it, nurturing God’s precious little ones as they grow and mature.

Gardeners who plant trees probably don’t get to see what the tree looks like in the end. Gardeners who nurture plants for others to use don’t get to see the fruit of their labor. And many times, mothers don’t see the end result of that seed of faith grow to full maturity and bear fruit.

Think about Moses’ mother for a moment. If you still have your Bibles open, flip back a few pages to the beginning of Exodus, chapter 2.

The children of Israel are still enslaved in Egypt. Pharaoh has ordered that all newborn Israelite boys be thrown into the River Nile. But Moses was rescued. Listen as I read Exodus 2:1-10

Read Exodus 2:1-10

I have no doubt at all that Moses’ mother planted the seed of faith during the short time she raised him. I have no doubt that she told and retold their family’s story. I have no doubt that she prayed for her child while he nursed. I have no doubt that even though he might not have remembered all of the details, that Moses’ mother did all she could to teach him who he was during the short time that she had him. I have no doubt that she was a faithful gardener, pouring out her heart and soul and nurturing love upon this little one. And although she did not see it, that small seed grew into a mighty tree. And God used Moses to lead his people out of Egypt.

All of us have spiritual mothers who have helped plant the seed of faith in our lives. For many of us, it’s the mother to whom we were born – our biological mother. For others, it could be another woman who came alongside you and spoke truth in your life, lovingly nurturing the seed of faith that has been planted in your soul. It is my prayer that we live our lives in such a way that we give honor to the faithful efforts of the Gardeners in our lives.

Giving honor to our mothers does not mean just celebrating this Mother’s Day weekend. Don’t get me wrong. I think weekends like this are important. The kids and I got up and made breakfast for Christy this morning. They’ve made all kinds of nifty little crafts to give her during the day. We’re going out to a restaurant of her choice for lunch and then we’re going to go hiking – because that’s what Mom wants to do. And that’s all good. But we cannot limit honoring our mothers to just this weekend.

So how do we honor our mothers? How do we show that the seed of faith she nurtured in our lives was not planted in vain? We best show honor to our mothers by allowing that planted seed to grow and bear fruit. That means following Christ a little closer. It means allowing the light of His love to work on us and to change us. Because, like we’ve been discovering during our Wednesday night study of the letter from James, true faith manifests itself in something that can be seen and recognized: a changed life.

The first steps to that are by beginning a friendship with Christ. If you have not made a conscious decision to follow Christ, to acknowledge that there is a God over the Universe and you are not that God; to follow in obedience of his example by being buried in the water of baptism…I can think of no better way to honor your mother on Mother’s Day than by celebrating the new life that is available to you and getting baptized today. 

We can also honor our mothers by planting the seed of faith in others. Honor the efforts of the gardener who nurtured your faith by encouraging another’s to grow. You may still have children at home, you might not. Your children could be half a world away. But you can still be a gardener in their lives. You can still continue to plant the seeds and water and nurture it in your children’s lives, in their children’s lives, and in their children’s children’s lives.

Or you could come alongside someone…a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker, and begin planting and nurturing the seed of faith in their lives, too.

Gardening is hard work. It requires a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. It can lead to heartbreak when you don’t see the fruit you’d hoped. Mom, know this – God is using you to plant a beautiful garden in other people’s lives. You could have a house full of screaming kids, an empty house that used to be full of screaming kids, or never even had children – God still plans on using you to plant seeds in other people’s lives. He is asking you to continue to be a faithful gardener.

You might not even see the fruit of your efforts, but God does. And because of your faithful gardening, we honor you this morning.

[1] http://swz.salary.com/momsalarywizard/htmls/mswl_momcenter.html

[2] http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/306/Gardener-Groundskeeper.html