“Where Does A Mother Go To Resign?”
What the Bible says about good mothers.
Sermon Preached by
The Reverend Dr. Bill Fritz
Sunday, May 9, 2004
Text: Proverbs 31:10-31

How did he do? Well, by one o’clock he was exhausted, by three o’clock he was barely holding on, by four o’clock he had resolved to give the children an early supper, and by five o’clock he had bathed the children, read them their stories and put them to bed. And by this time he himself was a walking nervous wreck. He wrote a note of woe to his wife and as a joke ended with the words, “I hereby resign as Dad of this family.” At day’s end this dad wanted to resign. But where does a mother go to resign? Mothers seldom resign.

And on this Mother’s Day Sunday we celebrate our mothers, to whom we owe a great deal. Granted, not all of us are mothers but this sermon is for all of us. We’ve all had a mother or someone who has been or is like a mother to us.

I was the youngest of seven children in my family. I had a caring and watchful mother, but when Dad died, out of economic necessity my mother had to work away from home. So at one time or another I lived with every one of my four married sisters. In Mom’s absence they were mother-like in caring for me. So this morning we celebrate mothers.

The Bible celebrates mothers. Eve was the first mother and Mary was the mother of Jesus. Proverbs, which is one of the books of Wisdom in the Bible, gives full flight in its celebration of a mother. The mother is not named, as if to indicate that all mothers – yours or mine –could fit this description. Proverbs 31 celebrates many attributes of a mother. Let’s look at just four of these.

King Lemuel celebrates his mother’s wisdom. He states that he owes a great deal to his mother. Now that he is king, he recalls her wisdom, counsel and instruction. He has followed his mother’s outlook and he himself has a heart of integrity and wisdom. Not only King Lemuel but also most of us, I believe, appreciate our mother’s wisdom.

Helen Jackson Brown recalls the words of good counsel that her mother gave to her. Helen was in first year university and struggling with her studies. Her mother often wrote to her with news from home. But, says Helen, her mom’s postscripts were what encouraged her, for these contained gold nuggets of wisdom. For example:

P.S. Regarding your D in biology, let me only say that sometimes a scare is worth more than good advice.

I love you,

Mom

P.S. When you have nothing important or interesting to say, don’t let anyone persuade you to say it.

I love you,

Mom

P.S. Remember the Golden Rule. And remember it’s your turn.

I love you,

Mom

Where does a mother get her wisdom? Mothers I have known are women of prayer. Listen to this mother’s prayer:

Dear God, so far today I’ve done all right. I haven’t lost my temper with the kids. I haven’t gossiped. I haven’t been nasty, selfish or over-indulgent. I haven’t even complained about my husband. And I’m very thankful for all that. But in a few minutes now, Lord, I’m going to get out of bed and I’m going to need all your help. Amen.

A mother draws her wisdom from God. You and I can learn from that.

Proverbs 31 tells us about a mother’s faithfulness, her dependability. A mother is always available.

Joan and I have six children and 12 grandchildren. Our children were good. But you know, our grandchildren are darn near perfect! But to get back to the children: No one ever warned us that our children would mutate. They became teenagers! Those were the days of negotiations, arbitrations, confrontations and tears.

The issues were: Who gets to use the car and when? Who is responsible to refuel the car after use? But the outstanding issue centred around curfews – broken curfews. Twenty minutes, 30 minutes, one hour past curfew and that renegade teenager was not in. As dad, I would invariably resign and go to bed. But Joan would wait for the wayward’s return. For where does a mother go to resign?

We don’t know the author, but here is a poem that celebrates a mother’s tenacity:

Are All The Children In?

I think oft times as the night draws nigh
Of an old house on the hill;
Of a yard all wide and blossom filled
Where the children played at will.
And when at last the night came down
Hushing the merry din;
Mother would look around and ask,
’Are all the children in?’

’Tis many and many a year since then
And the old house on the hill
No longer echoes of children’s feet
And the yard is still, so still;
But I see it all as the shadows fall
And though many the years have been
Since then, I can still hear Mother ask
’Are all the children in?’

And I wonder if when the shadows fall
On our last short earthly day;
when we say ’Good-bye’ to the world outside
All tired with our children’s play;
When we step out into that other Land
Where Mother so long has been
Will we hear her ask just as of old
’Are all the children in?’
(Anonymous)

A mother has tenacity. Monique Lepine is such a person. She endured an abusive marriage and fled with her two small children – a boy and a girl already scarred by the abuse. As a single parent, Monique worked hard. She worked for her children, she tended to their needs, she watched over them. She bettered herself at her work and became director of nursing. Finally the children were grown and went out into the world.

Monique was happy about her future. Her children were grown, she was on her own. For the first time in her life she could relax. But Monique’s bright and promising future collapsed around her. Her son, her only son, Marc Lepine, committed horrific murder. She collapsed. She could not eat. She could not sleep. She could not work. For where does a mother go to resign? Now Monique in her need, required mothering.

It was Monique’s church that embraced her, held her, encouraged her, walked with her and enabled her to survive this dark night of her soul. Monique, although deeply scarred, is healed. For she has reached out to countless others who suffer such horrors.

A mother draws her tenacity from God. And we can learn from that.

In Old Testament times women worked mostly in the home. Yet there were women who were involved in business, industry, manual labour and even politics. Deborah was a judge in Israel. Ruth was a farm labourer. Esther was involved in politics. And our woman in Proverbs 31 works like many of today’s women – in and out of the home. She and her husband have a family, but she’s also an entrepreneur. From the details given, she’s in the export/import business. She deals in the textiles trade. She provides for her customers, for her family and for the homeless people as well. She’s driven not by compulsion but by compassion in all that she does. And in so doing, she makes this world a better place in which to live.

This story is told about Henry Ford, the famous industrialist. He was on vacation in Dublin, Ireland, when he met a woman who was founder of an orphanage. She was very direct. She asked Ford to contribute to her ambitious building campaign. Ford immediately took out his chequebook and wrote a cheque for £2,000. (This was a very generous sum in the 1920s.) However, somehow the local newspaper learned of Henry Ford’s gift and erroneously reported, “Ford donates £20,000 to orphanage.” When Ford saw the headline he immediately phoned the woman. She was perplexed but she told him that she would immediately phone the newspapers and have them correct the error. “Instead of £20,000, I’ll have them report the correct amount of £2,000.”

Thoroughly embarrassed, Ford said, “No, don’t do that. I’ll write you a cheque for the remaining £18,000.”

The woman was ecstatic. “Oh, thank you, Mr. Ford! This gives us enough money to build our new building. I would like your permission to name it after you.”

Henry Ford had the last word: “Yes, go ahead and do that, and under the sign please inscribe the words, ’I was a stranger and you took me in.’”

Joni Earickson Tada is a woman in her late forties. She has never had any children of her own but she is like a mother to so many who are developmentally and physically disabled. When Joni was just 16 years old, she fractured her neck in a diving accident and became a quadriplegic. But Joni is a woman of resilient faith in God. Over the years she has been one of the most enterprising people in our generation. From her wheelchair she speaks at conferences, she paints, she writes books. And, she has founded a world-wide organization for people with disabilities.

One day a reporter interviewed Joni and asked, “You have such a catastrophic disability. How do you cope?”

And Joni replied, “My diving accident took away my hands and my legs, but God gave me a head and a heart and the accident could not take that away.”

A mother finds her identity in God, and you and I can learn from that.

Proverbs 31 tells us that this woman deals in fine clothing. She provides for her family, her customers and she provides for the needy. She herself wears clothing that never fades or goes out of fashion, for her clothing is strength and honour. Her clothing is inward. Her clothing never fades. Why is that so?

Perhaps Erma Bombeck answered this question best a few years ago, when she wrote:

When the good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of overtime when the angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”

The Lord said, “Have you read the specs on this order? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic; have 180 movable parts... all replaceable; run on black coffee and leftovers; have a lap that disappears when she stands up; a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair and three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.”

“That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, ’What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, ’I understand and I love you,’ without so much as uttering a word.”

“Lord,” said the angel, “Impossible!”

“Ah,” said the Lord, “I’m so close. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick... can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger... and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower.”

The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly and sighed. “She’s too soft.”

“But tough!” said the Lord excitedly. “You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure.”

Finally the angel bent over and ran a finger across the cheek. “There’s a leak,” she pronounced. “I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model.”

“It’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.”

“What’s it for?”

“It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride.”
(adapted from Erma Bombeck – Forever Erma)

A mother draws her constancy from God, and you and I can learn from that!

God created mother! Proverbs 31 celebrates mothers – their sagacity, tenacity, industry and constancy. And on this Mother’s Day, you and I need to celebrate, too. In fact, Proverbs 31 commands us to do this: “Show her respect, praise her in public for what she has done.”

And it concludes with a hymn of praise: “Her children rise up and call her blessed.”

And her husband says, “You are the best!”

This is a verbatim transcription of the original sermon.