Mother’s Day Sermons: Yes or No?
Mother’s Day sermons, at least in certain circles, can be a bit controversial. After all, Mother’s Day is not a liturgical holiday, an official part of the Church calendar. So, should you preach Mother’s Day sermons? Absolutely.
The Bible stresses the vital role of women in the transmission of the faith. Not only is motherhood vital in the Old Testament, but Paul calls out the mother of Timothy and his grandmother. He honors them for giving Timothy a vision of what to believe. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well” (2 Tim 1:5). If Paul called out moms and grandmothers for meritorious conduct, we should too! Way to go, mom!
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Like a Mother to Me
There is a touching moment in Romans 16 that chokes me up nearly every time I think about it. Paul is sending his personal greeting to his friends in Rome. He says, effectively, “Say hi to Rufus…and to his mother who was a mother to me” (Romans 16:13).
Whoa! What did he just say?
We know Rufus. He was the son of Simon of Cyrene, who carried the cross of Christ on the last leg of the painful Good Friday journey. This means that Simon (probably) went home from that experience a changed man. He shared the power of that moment with his wife, who then likely passed it along to her sons, Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21).
Are you not moved by the idea that she heard from her husband about his close encounter with Jesus…and that the two boys heard it as well? And then, in a remarkable loving intersection of faith and circumstance, she might have shared it with Paul (how they met, where they met, and under what circumstances this remarkable coincidence occurred are things we will never know).
But imagine this: she was like a mother to the Great Apostle Paul. Paul of Tarsus may have learned about the final moments of the life of his new Lord from the wife of the man who carried the Lord’s cross, Simon of Cyrene. She was like a mother to him. Whatever that meant for Paul, we should be thankful for her.
Her care and love for Saul of Tarsus, the terrorist-turned-missionary, should inspire us all. Think about it: Without knowing who he would become, she was a mother to the most significant convert in the history of the church. Glory to God for her!
Gender Saved the World
The womb is God’s great tool for the salvation of the human race. God had to ‘borrow’ one to accomplish his plan. He fulfilled the promise through a borrowed womb (Gal. 4:4).
Think about that for a long time. We live in an age when sex is lauded and revered, but gender is confused, and motherhood is jeered at. But God didn’t use sex to save the world. Instead, he used gender.
God used the female gender to save us. He honored pregnancy and motherhood in a way that our culture does not today. God bypassed what our culture ‘worships’ today (sex) and used what our culture dismisses as unimportant (motherhood). Moms should be honored by us…God honored them all with the Incarnation.
Of course, there are women who do not have children or who cannot have children.
And there are many mothers who have lost children to early death or misfortune. A preacher must be very sensitive to that fact. But we all have needed mothers in our own lives. And those moms, living or dead, good or bad, provided life for us…or to us. We should at least give thanks for our mothers…all of our mothers.
No, I don’t usually preach on the Hallmark Holidays (Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, etc.), but I do think that Mother’s Day sermons are a reminder of God’s faithfulness to us at so many levels… they deserve more than a mention. Being a mother is worthy of honor.
How to Preach Great Mother’s Day Sermons
Motherhood is one of the most fundamental human roles—given by God and knit into our DNA. This Sunday, preachers have a unique opportunity to bring hope and encouragement to the women and moms in their church. Here are a few ways to make it special.
- Interview your mom on camera or live. When else would your church have the chance to meet the woman who raised you?
- Preach a children’s sermon. The third most common reason people give for attending church is for their children. This Sunday, give your best children’s message—the moms will love it!
- Pray for the whole family. At the right moment in your service, ask families to surround their mother and lay hands on her. Then pray over them.
- Take time in the service to do something you would NEVER want to do in church: ask everyone with a phone or device to text their mother (or the person who has been “like a mother to me,” as St. Paul says—see below). Take a moment. Really. Ask your congregation to live-text a loving mother or mother-like person, giving thanks to God for her life.
- Some worry that too much emphasis on “motherhood” is exclusionary. But Mother’s Day is the MOST inclusionary moment of the year. Why? We all have mothers—every one of us. Use this day to give thanks for all mothers, living or deceased. Consider emailing your church and asking each family or individual to find a photograph of their mother, living or deceased, to aid their own prayer.
- Finally, give a representative offering. At offering time, what if you simply said, “On behalf of our church, and in thanksgiving for all the mothers in our lives, our church will give 10% of today’s offering to…” Choose a gospel-centered, family-friendly ministry. THAT week, send a check to the ministry.
Below are a few more ideas to help make the day a memorable moment for your congregation.
A Higher Love
While we rightly honor the unique bond between a mother and child, our culture (and ourselves) often deify a mother’s love as sacred in and of itself. But the gospel reminds us that unless our loves are generated by and subject to Christ, even the deepest loves will become warped by sin. In fact, in C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, we see precisely this scene play out: the once pure love of a mother has been corrupted into something selfish and destructive. This message can start with mothers but includes everyone—when our first devotion is to Christ, all our other loves become filled by him.
The Motherliness of God
We focus a lot on God’s masculine or paternal attributes. There’s nothing wrong with that unless those earthly metaphors come to define or limit our understanding of God. Mother’s Day is a perfect time to remind everyone of the beautiful maternal images applied to God in the Scriptures (e.g., Psalm 131:2, Isaiah 49:15, 66:13, Hosea 13:8, Luke 13:34, 1 Peter 2:2).
Great Commission Moms
Every mom (and parent and grandparent) is a missionary. The call to go and make disciples starts with the daily grind of raising kids. Moms aren’t on the sidelines of the mission field—they are on the front lines, handing down the faith like Lois and Eunice (2 Tim. 1:5) or Paul’s ‘foster’ mother mentioned in Romans 16:13. Anyone who’s raised a teenager knows the missionary’s task of bringing the gospel to a people group with its own unique customs, language, and culture!
Go Old School
Pastors sometimes struggle to bring Old Testament narratives into the pulpit. Why not use Mother’s Day as an opportunity to take a deep dive into the story of Sarah, Hannah, or Moses’ mother (Many/most of your congregation may not know the name of Moses’ mother)?
Bad Kid, Good Mom
It’s tempting to use an overly sentimental anecdote about motherhood, but that sort of emotionalism rings hollow. Instead, recall a time when you weren’t a particularly great son or daughter. (Maybe you have lots of material to choose from here.) It’s a chance to open your sermon with self-deprecating humor to make a worthwhile point—sometimes, it’s when we are at our worst that moms are at their best (and a word to the wise preachers: NEVER make a mom the brunt of a joke!).
Honor Thy Mother
Don’t just preach to mothers—preach to everyone who’s had a mother. Ask them what it would mean to go beyond gratitude toward their parents and honor them. While our culture celebrates outgrowing, even condemning, previous generations, the Ancient Near Eastern world sought to respect the gifts and wisdom our mothers gave us. Challenge your listeners to make this concrete with their own parents, no matter what phase of life they are in.
Get the Kids Involved
Who knows moms better than children? Enlist your children’s ministry (or dads) to help. Show some portraits of moms on a projector, drawn by their children. Share kids’ “favorite things” about mom. It doesn’t have to be much, but it could start your sermon on the right note by highlighting the whole family of God.
Peaks and Valleys
For many, Mother’s Day is such a joyful day to remember some of the most precious moments of our lives. For some others, it’s a reminder of broken relationships, tragic losses, and unfulfilled hopes. It’s best to acknowledge all of this. Remind your listeners that this business of love, this business of new life—this is gospel business. And that same gospel encompasses the sorrow of the cross and the joy of the resurrection.
Pray for Mothers
Devote time at the end of the sermon to pray for mothers and grandmothers. This is surely a prayer of gratitude, but view it also as a commissioning, asking God to encourage them in their role.
Scripture Reading for Mother’s Day Sermons
Since Mother’s Day is a Hallmark Holiday and, therefore, is not in the typical lectionary, here are some of the best passages (not mentioned above) to underscore your message.
- Philippians 1:2-3;
- I Corinthians 13:4-7;
- Ephesians 6:1-3,
- Proverbs 22:6, 23:25,
- Proverbs 11:16;
- Psalm 139: 13,
- 1 Peter 3:4,
- Psalm 127:3,
- Exodus 20:12,
- Psalm 139:13,
- Proverbs 14:1,
- Proverbs 31:10-12 and 25-31
Image: Photo by Helena Lopes from Pexels, courtesy of Canva. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.
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