Mothers' Day has become a time of major economic significance. I recall that, as a child, I would give Mum something simple - possibly something I had made myself. We would give Mum breakfast in bed. Of course, appreciation and helpfulness should never just be restricted to one day in the year.
Recently I came across this poem by Nicholas Gordon.
Allowing me to sail upon my sea,
Though well within the headlands of your fears.
Before I was myself you made me, me
With dreams enough of what I was to be
And hopes that would be sculpted by the years,
Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,
Relinquishing your powers gradually
To let me shape myself among my peers.
Before I was myself you made me, me,
And being good and wise, you gracefully
As dancers when the last sweet cadence nears
Bit by bit stepped back to set me free.
For love inspires learning naturally:
The mind assents to what the heart reveres.
And so it was through love you made me, me
By slowly stepping back to set me free.
Today is a day for remembering - the mother who still cares for us, the mother who is a friend and mentor, the mother for whom we now care or the mother who is no longer with us. For many of us she was the one who not only taught us our first steps, but who led us in our first steps towards God.
Of course, we need, not just Christian mothers, but Christian families. In our focus on motherhood we don't want to miss the role of fathers in exercising spiritual leadership in their homes.
We need Christian families. There are many families that have a Christian mother and father but aren't Christian families. They go to church together, but don't function together at the spiritual level at all.
They are glad that their children receive teaching in Sunday School, but that Christian teaching may not be obvious as the foundation of their family life.
In the Old Testament the family had a key role in the spiritual life of its members. In fact, the family itself was to be a worshipping community within the total community of God's people. Worship was at the heart of family life.
Some of the festivals were not "up-at-the-church" activities. The feast of Passover was a family celebration. As part of the Passover ritual, the children were to ask, "What does this ceremony mean to you?", to which the father would answer, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians" (see Ex. 12.24-27).
The feast of Tabernacles was another family celebration. "All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God" (Lev. 23.42-43). These were usually constructed on the roof of their flat-topped houses. We can well imagine the sounds from house-top to housetop.
The teaching of the faith was seen to be mainly the responsibility of parents. Note carefully the words of Deut. 6.1-9. You and your descendants are to honour the Lord and obey all his laws. "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
The divinely-given principles are key to the family's life. "Tie them as symbols on your hands" - they are to guide your actions. "Bind them on your foreheads" - they are to direct your thinking, reasoning and judgment. "Write them on the door-frames of your houses" - they are to be the principles of your family life - "...and on your gates" - not just for home use, but as the basis of all your going and coming.
Think about the family from which Moses came. His mother, Jochebed, cared for him on behalf of Pharaoh's daughter until he was old enough to go to her home. We don't really know how old that was or all that went on in his parents' home. What we do know was that he had learnt in his own home who he was, who his people were. He had learnt to trust the Lord and to pray. He knew the stories of God's dealings with his ancestors - he later wrote them down!
The New Testament, no less than the Old, makes it clear that families are to be places of faith, nurture and worship.
Homes, of course, were where Christians gathered for worship anyway. In Acts 2.46-47 we read that the early believers "broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people." When Peter was released from prison by the angel, he went to "the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying" (12.12).
Notice the families and house churches greeted by Paul in Romans 16. Paul greets Priscilla and Aquila and "the church that meets at their house." He greets "those who belong to the household of Aristobulus"; "those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord"; "Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them."
Paul and Silas said to the Philippian jailer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household." The whole household listened to the word of the Lord. The jailer and his family were baptised. And we read that the jailer "was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God - he and his whole family" (Acts 16.31-34).
In today's reading, we note the influence of Timothy's family - "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also" (2 Tim. 1.5).
The faith of the next generation can never be taken for granted. As someone has put it, God has no grandchildren - each of us has to make our own response to his grace. Yet the response of the next generation should be prayed for, nurtured and expected where the family has consciously practised their faith.
In the purpose of God, the family itself is to be a place of worship, nurture and growth and to take its place within the wider family of God's people.
"Christ is the head of this house, the silent listener to every conversation, the unseen guest at every meal." That makes a fine wall plaque. How can it become a reality in the life of every family of Christian people? How can the families of Christians become Christian families?
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