Sermon Tone Analysis

Faith of our Mothers

                         2 Tim.

1:1-5; 2 Tim.

3:12-17

   May 14, 2006

 

Let’s begin with some poignant words from Reader’s Digest: “On Mother’s Day I went to Sunday School with my grandchildren, Jill and Josh.

Gifts were presented to the oldest mother, to the mother with the most children, to the grandmother with the most grandchildren, and then the great-grandmothers were asked to identify themselves.

Six year-old Jill whispered, “Grandma, raise your hand.”

I tried to explain to her that I wasn’t yet a great-grandmother.

“But, Grandma, you are great!”

she protested.

*Introduction*

Do you know what day it is today?

That’s right it’s Mother’s Day!

Here it’s a day to give mothers the recognition they deserve, but don’t often get.

In some countries they take Mother’s Day a little more seriously than we do.

For example, President BoKassa of the Central African Republic celebrated Mother's Day in 1971 by ordering the execution of all men jailed for crimes against their mothers.

What do you think, should we try that in Canada?

The "Mother's Day" concept has a long history of religious connections which in modern times seem to have been predominantly Christian.

In ancient Greece, the idea of paying tribute to motherhood was given expression with a regular festival tantamount to mother-worship.

Formal ceremonies to Cybele, or Rhea, the "Great Mother of the Gods," were performed on the Ides of March throughout Asia Minor.

For Christianity, the concept seems to date back to establishment of England's "Mothering Sunday," a custom of the people which provided that one attend the mother church in which he was baptized on Mid-Lent Sunday.

Gifts were to be offered at the altar to the church and to worshippers' mothers.

The concept was divorced of any "mother worship," but nevertheless perpetuated its religious association.

North American observance of Mother's Day, too, has been characterized by church ties from the start.

The first general observance of the occasion was in the churches of Philadelphia after Miss Anne Jarvis campaigned for a holiday for mothers more than 50 years ago.

Of Timothy, his son in the faith, Paul could say,, with unaffected frankness, (Phil.

2:20), /"There is no one like Timothy."/

What in Timothy justified such a commendation?

Part of the answer is given in our text; recalling Timothy's sterling qualities, in 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul singles out his "unfeigned faith" for special mention and then immediately affirms that this faith dwelt first in Timothy's grandmother Lois, and in his mother Eunice.

Paul implies that but for the faith found in Lois and Eunice it is unlikely that there would have been any faith found in Timothy!

We have here, then, the faith of three generations—Lois, Eunice and Timothy.

What a commentary this is on the faith of our mothers!

So, let’s turn to 2 Timothy 1:1-5: \\ /This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus.

\\ It is written to Timothy, my dear son.

May God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

\\ Timothy, I thank God for you.

He is the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did.

Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

\\ I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted.

And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.

\\ I know that you sincerely trust the Lord, for you have the faith of your mother, Eunice, and your grandmother, Lois./

Turn over another couple of pages and we’ll also read 2 Timothy 3:12-17: /“Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

\\ But evil people and impostors will flourish.

They will go on deceiving others, and they themselves will be deceived.

\\ But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.

You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.

\\ You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.

\\ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.

\\ It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.” /

 

 *I.

A Mother's Faith Is Convictional*

 " /I know that you sincerely trust the Lord, for you have the faith of your mother, Eunice, and your grandmother, Lois/.

" (2 Tim.

1:5).

A study of Acts 16:1 which says /Paul and Silas went first to Derbe and then on to Lystra.

There they met Timothy, a young disciple whose mother was a Jewish believer, but whose father was a Greek.

/, together with 2 Tim. 1 which we’ve just read and 2 Tim.

3:14 which adds /But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.

You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.

/, makes it plain that these two women enjoyed a faith in God through our Lord Jesus Christ which was both scriptural and saving, a good example of the nature of convictional faith.

* *

* *

*1) It Is a Faith Which Is Scripturally Sound*

Both these mothers knew " /You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus./

" (2 Tim.

3:15).

They could have never taught Timothy these sacred writings if they had not been acquainted with them personally.

Such study of the Holy Scriptures had begotten in them a God-centered faith.

And this is how it always is, for the Bible says, /" Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news—the Good News about Christ.

"/ (Romans 10:17).

Above tradition and secular literature, they prized most highly the final authority in all matters of faith and practice, namely, the Holy Scriptures.

It is important for a wife and mother to live in the Scriptures day by day.

But, we won’t have a quiet time with God unless we purposely arrange it.

So plan a place and a time when you will read your Bible each day.

Put it on the calendar as an appointment.

It is a meeting with a Person just as much as any other appointment you might make.

It is a meeting with God.

A time to communicate with your Maker!

Our prayer life suffers when we do not set aside a time and place for prayer.

Much praying is not done because we do not plan to pray.

We do not drift into spiritual life . . .

We will not grow in prayer unless we plan to pray.

That means intentionally setting aside time to do nothing but pray.

An African chief wanted to know the secret of Britain's greatness.

Queen Victoria, holding a Bible in her hand, said, "Tell the chief that this book, the Bible, is the secret of our greatness."

*2) It Is a Faith Which Is Savingly Sure*

 

They taught Timothy /"the holy Scriptures which are able to make…wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus"/ (2 Tim.

3:15).

From Acts 16:1 it appears that both Timothy's mother and grandmother were introduced to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ on Paul's second missionary journey.

Eunice is there described as a Jewish woman who "believed."

Their background of scriptural knowledge had wonderfully prepared them for the message of salvation through Paul the Apostle.

Here, then, were two mothers who had a convictional faith, grounded in the Word of God and related to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Nothing is needed more in our land today than women who have this quality of faith.

Lord Shaftesbury once said: "Give me a generation of Christian mothers and I will undertake to change the whole face of society in twelve months."

*II.

A Mother's Faith Is Communicable*

/" I know that you sincerely trust the Lord, for you have the faith of your mother, Eunice, and your grandmother, Lois.

But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.

You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.

"/ (2 Tim.

1:5; 2 Tim.

3:14).

There is no one who can communicate the deep things of life on a daily basis like a godly mother.

The father certainly has a responsibility of leadership, both by way of example and instruction, but invariably it is the mother who makes the deepest impression on a child, especially in the years of infancy.

After dinner on Mother’s Day a mother was washing the dishes when her teenage daughter wandered into the kitchen.