Atypical Womanhood
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 3198 Mother Charges Nothing
A mother found under her place one morning at breakfast a bill made out by her small son, Bradley, aged eight—Mother owes Bradley: for running errands, 25 cents; for being good, 10 cents; for taking music lessons, 15 cents; for extras, 5 cents. Total, 55 cents.
Mother smiled but made no comment. At lunch Bradley found the bill under his plate with 55 cents and another piece of paper neatly folded like the first. Opening it he read—Bradley owes Mother: for nursing him through scarlet fever, nothing; for being good to him, nothing; for clothes, shoes and playthings, nothing; for his playroom, nothing; for his meals, nothing. Total: nothing.
Praise the Lord for godly mothers who don’t keep score because if they dared to do so, we’d have a debt that would take years and years to repay!
On Mother’s Day, we celebrate our mother’s and for many of us this is a happy time because we love our mother dearly. I want to caution this message with a simple warning, though. Not every person is blessed to have a godly mother who loved them unconditionally. Not every person has an extremely close relationship with their mother. Further, some sermons on this Sunday almost make every mother out there to be a god of sorts. I love my mother dearly, and we’re going to study the importance of godly women throughout history today, but if you leave here thinking that your mom (or that you as a mom) is perfect, we have sinned as a church. Feminists will tell us that each and every woman is perfect and fundamentalists will tell us each and every woman is a doormat. Both are mistakenly wrong. Women, regardless of if you are a mother, grandmother, or not, you have a purpose and you are of infinite worth in being a woman because that is who God-designed you to be. You are not valuable because some boy or man says you are, you are valuable intrinsically because you are made in God’s image.
A man is not a woman and a woman is not a man. During the last few Wednesday nights we’ve been starting a Bible study in the book of Genesis. Genesis is a book that fascinates our imagination as we read all sorts of stories about various people. Thus far in the study we’ve been looking exclusively at creation in Genesis 1 and 2. In Genesis 1, we read about the 6 days of creation and how there is a purpose behind creation. The climax of creation is whenever God creates mankind in His own image as Genesis 1:26 says.
As the narrative goes, though, Adam is tasked with doing all sorts of assignments in the Garden and he does these alone. God says that it is not good for man to be alone and what does God do? He causes Adam to sleep and takes a rib from him and forms Eve. Contrary to what secularists might tell us today, God’s design was good and not in need of modification. One man and one woman in a union with one another was and is the design. Notice what has happened in the centuries since the Garden… Nowadays human life is not special as we evolved from apes. Humans are free to be whatever we feel is right rather than how God created us. And, our God given responsibilities are labeled as sexist and discriminatory.
Oh, how we have fallen as a society and, sadly, as the global church in buying into this lie. This morning, we’re going to spend some time looking at what the Bible says about the beauty of gender distinctives and specifically, the legacy of God fearing women in Scripture and in our lives as well. As we do this, my prayer is that if you are a mother, you leave here encouraged and challenged to leave behind a legacy of faithfulness to your family. If you are a woman who is not a mother, my hope is that you’d understand that God has a plan and purpose for your life. If you are a man, you’re not off the hook! My prayer is that you would leave here in awe that God’s plan for your life included being surrounded by Godly women who love Jesus Christ and that you would tell those women that you love them today.
We’re going to be studying about a New Testament figure this morning who was a co-laborer in ministry with Paul. Paul calls this man a “son” on multiple occasions even though he was not his biological father. In our text, Paul writes to encourage Timothy and in encouraging him, Paul references the faith of his mother and grandmother. Rather than referencing their intellect, independence, fashion skills, feistiness, beauty, sarcasm, or love languages, he references their faith in the Lord.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, for the sake of the promise of life in Christ Jesus:
2 To Timothy, my dearly loved son. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.
4 Remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.
5 I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.
6 Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
Godly Women Leave a Legacy of Faith (1-5)
Godly Women Leave a Legacy of Faith (1-5)
Whenever your life is over, what will people say about you? Hopefully there will be some good things that are said. Perhaps that we were a good student, a good friend, a good athlete, a good businessman, a good boss, a good doctor, a good farmer, that we were a good parent, or grandparent. All of these things are great! We should live our lives in such a way that we do leave behind a productive and good legacy because we know that our actions will speak after we are gone. Do you want your tombstone to say that you were just a good student or employee, though? Sure, you should work in such a way to have a reputation of being a hard worker, but is that what you want your ultimate legacy to be? If so, we aren’t living with a Kingdom first mindset! We have a higher calling. First and foremost, our goal should be to live a life that is like Christ. Not to live a life that is relaxing, comfortable, and not to be the center of attention or to make people notice how good or how hard our life is, our purpose isn’t to complain and stir the pot - it’s to point people to Jesus.
In the Hall of Faith passage in Hebrews 11, we see many heroes of the faith. Yet, in this chapter, we also come across some unlikely characters. The preacher of Hebrews highlights several women in this passage and notice what he doesn’t do. Sarah and Rahab are mentioned and they’re not mentioned for the customary things that we think of today. In modern Church life we emphasize all sorts of things. We emphasize being a hard worker. If you are a parent, we emphasize being a godly parent. If you are a child, we emphasize being obedient. It would be easy to think of Sarah and think that the reason she is mentioned in the hall of faith is because she gave birth to Abraham’s son Isaac and Abraham was God’s chosen servant and had faith in God. Yes, Sarah did give birth and by all accounts was a godly mother, but are you ready for something you might not like? Mom’s, is there something more important in your life than being a mother? The world says absolutely not and there is a temptation for us to subscribe to this as well. There’d better be something more important, though. Your faith in God better come first! Your identity is not in your spouse, it’s not in your family, it’s not in your kids, it’s in your Savior!
This is paramount in leaving behind a legacy of faith. If we make the 2nd most important thing the most important thing in our lives, there will be a consequence. Look around our world today. There is no such thing as a perfect family, regardless of what Hollywood tries to tell us. The family is under attack and we have to ask why? Why are families being attacked? Why are families falling apart left and right? Yes, the ultimate answer is sin, but one of the reasons is because we are not putting God first. We put other things first. We put relationships first. We put sports first. We put activities or traveling first. We sacrifice church on the altar of dating and entertainment. So, how do we fight against this trend? Parents, it’s on us. The trend in our country is for children to run households, sadly, but that’s not the way God intended things to work. God, in the garden, gave structure and order to relationships and it doesn’t start with children at the top. It starts with dad and mom. Paul gives some helpful instructions in Ephesians 6
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right.
Parents, children are supposed to obey you - they don’t get to make the rules, you do. In order for this to happen, in order for children to be brought up in the Lord, what must be done? Parents must live a life that puts Jesus Christ first. Children must see that their parents love Jesus not just at church but at home as well!
During a normal school week, children spend about 1/4 of their time in school and 1/4 of their time asleep. Of the remaining 50% of their time, they’ll spend roughly 1% of it at church and over 40% of it at home. If we want to fulfill our calling of making disciples, parents, where does discipleship start? In the home. For most families, that means that mom and dad have to model that behavior and spend intentional time talking with kids about Jesus. Parents, when was the last time you talked with your child about Jesus outside of Sunday or Wednesday? We talk about our day and about our dreams, but sometimes we don’t make time to talk about our faith in Christ.
I’ll never forget reading about the great church father Augustine and his upbringing. Augustine has a mixed reputation from some people in the church because they disagree with his theology, but what cannot be argued is that few people in the history of the church have been as gifted by God and passionate as this man. Augustine would go on to become a church leader in northern Africa but he wasn’t always a faithful Christian, in fact, he was a bit of a rebel in his younger years. His mother, Monica, prayed for Augustine for years and years and prayed that God would grab hold of his heart. Eventually, she sailed from northern Africa to Italy to talk with him and beg him to simply attend church. Augustine honored her wishes and began attending church and heard the Gospel preached by another church father, Ambrose of Millan. Fast forward several decades and Augustine was not just a follower of Christ, he was a leader in the church fighting against heresy in the 5th century led by a man named Pelagius.
Augustine’s mother played an instrumental role in her son’s conversion simply because she cared about his faith. Do we care about the faith of our kids enough today? In our text, we see Paul write to Timothy and he thanks God for his “son” in the faith. But notice what verse 5 says about Timothy and his background. What did Timothy have? Timothy had a grandmother and a mother who had sincere faith that they lived out in front of him day in and day out. As one commentator put it, “Timothy had a godly mother and grandmother.” Because of this, he was given a solid foundation from a very young age - and notice what we don’t see in this passage. There is no mention of his father or grandfather. In Acts 16:1 we read about Timothy a bit more and we find this
1 Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek.
Timothy’s dad was Greek - we are not told whether he was a gentile Christian or not, simply that Paul knew of his mother’s and grandmother’s faith. Now, we have to be careful here and not say that their faith “saved” Timothy because that’s not how it works. You are responsible for your relationship with Christ - mom and dad can’t save you. But, we do know that it is a blessing to have parents who love Jesus and live out that life of faith. Timothy had that and it influenced him greatly during his life and ministry. Do you have this type of background? Is/was your mother a godly influence in your life who left behind a legacy of faith? If so, thank her for doing so! If you are a mother, this should be your #1 goal in life - to leave behind a legacy of faith in God for your family. This is more important than anything else. If you are not a mother, maybe you think that this doesn’t apply to you…
Maybe you dislike Mother’s Day because you’re not a mother and you struggle to see how this fits in for you… Let’s look at a godly woman who was not a mother. Every Christmas, we take up an offering for our international missionaries called the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. These funds assist missionaries in sharing the Gospel all around the globe! Why is it named after Lottie Moon? Who is Lottie Moon? She was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ who was also brilliant and graduated with her masters degree as a 21 year old and went to China as a missionary as a 32 year old.
She was asked once if she had ever been in love and replied this, “Yes, but God had first claim on my life, and since the two conflicted, there could be no question about the result.” What came first to Lottie Moon was not another person, rather it was Christ. She felt as though she was called for singleness time and time again. As one writer put it, “Through her singleness, Lottie became a living picture of Christ’s power in and for every Christian. This is a picture the church still needs today.”
Through her singleness, Lottie Moon still left behind a strong legacy of faith as she obediently followed Christ and lived for him. Whether you are a grandmother, mother, aunt, sister, daughter, or granddaughter, you have a purpose with your life and that is to point others to Jesus Christ. That must come first!
Godly Women Emphasize what Truly Matters (6-7)
Godly Women Emphasize what Truly Matters (6-7)
Not only do godly women leave behind a legacy of faith, they live a life that pushes others to do what they are called to do. In our text, Paul calls on Timothy to rekindle the gift of God and to remember that God has not given us a spirit of fear but one of power, love, and sound judgment. What does this look like? What does it mean to have a spirit of power, love, and sound judgment? It means to have the Holy Spirit inside of us and to trust in His power rather than our own. Whenever we trust in our own power, we will be upset and afraid from time to time. Whenever we trust in and rely on the Holy Spirit, we should have courage, love, and sound judgment/discernment. Therefore, what we need to be reminded is to not trust in ourselves or to think that God helps the ones who help themselves, that’s not Scriptural because it’s not about us. It’s about Him. We must trust in His power and abide in His Word and follow His Spirit!
This is what truly matters! Godly women emphasize this. Have you experienced this?
Have you ever been around a mother who is absolutely exhausted due to sleep depravation for a whole slew of reasons? There’s normal tired, there’s exhausted, and then there’s the sleep depravation that hits a new mother. I could tell you all sorts of stories and have permission to do so, but what happens whenever we get exhausted? We need rest, simply. What about when there’s not an opportunity to rest? We need strength and energy. We need something that we don’t naturally have - we have to push deeper. But still, there are moments when we pour and pour and genuinely don’t have anything else to give. What do we do then? We look to our God who gives us exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. We can take heart in our weaknesses and mom’s can take heart in moments of sleep depravation, why? Because of what Paul points out in 2 Corinthians 12:10
10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
When I am weak, then I am strong. How can we say this? If we’re being honest, we can’t say this about ourselves. Whenever we are weak, we are weak. But whenever we are filled with the Holy Spirit and rely on His power, then we know that we are strong because He is working in us. As a result, Godly women point others to the true source of strength, rest, and power - not themselves or the nearby coffee mug, but to God. He comes first!
Godly Womanhood is Atypical Womanhood
Godly Womanhood is Atypical Womanhood
Abigail Dodds wrote a book entitled Atypical Womanhood that has left an impact in my life and I’m not even a woman. Why does this book resonate with me as a young man? Because even though I’m not a woman, I’m aware enough to understand that what our world says womanhood looks like is not what the Bible says womanhood looks like. Every single woman would benefit in some capacity by reading this book and seeing what our culture says versus what Scripture says!
Christ calls all of His followers to be atypical in the eyes of the world.
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Our very existence is to be different because it’s no longer about us, it’s about Christ. We have been crucified with Christ - we’re dead and gone! Therefore how do we live? Do we live for the here and now? Do we store up wealth and treasure here and now? Absolutely not. We store up treasure in heaven where moth and dust cannot destroy. We set our minds on the things above as Colossians 3:2 reminds us!
How do we live an atypical life? It starts in the home. Dad’s we’ll get to your responsibility in a few weeks in this process, but mom’s you have a huge role to play here! Studies show that mothers have a tremendous influence on the upbringing of children - so much so that children with an attentive and loving mother have higher developmental and social skills throughout their life! This isn’t because the child’s mom isn’t necessarily a genius or anything - it’s simply because the mother spends time with them and nurtures them. Does the Bible call on parents to do this?
6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
The saying goes that children learn right and wrong from mom and dad - sadly in our culture today, children learn a whole lot more wrong than right from their parents. Why is this the case? Because the moral compass has left the building for so many people! Wrong is right and right is wrong. If we are going to fulfill our obligation, as parents, to train our children up in the Lord, how can we ever hope to accomplish this task? The standard cannot be the world. We can be the best of parents by the world’s standard and fail to do our task. The standard must be what God calls us to be and do. This is not typical for non-Christians. Things like boundaries, modesty, Godly values, and Christlike love are not found in many homes today but they are found in the home of an Atypical family that has an Atypical mother. Praise the Lord for Atypical women who live out Colossians 3:23
23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,
Praise the Lord for mothers who don’t keep score and who continue to make much of Jesus Christ in the good and bad times because they understand what Sarah understood thousands of years ago
11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful.
Conclusion
Conclusion
If you had an Atypical Christian mother as your mom, understand how blessed you have been! The days aren’t short - they’re long. The responsibilities aren’t easy - they’re difficult. The rest isn’t easy to find - it seems as though it never comes. Yet, they go above and beyond day in and day out.
A couple of application points as we close:
If you are a mother and you get discouraged - don’t worry. God has called you to this task and He is faithful! Trust in Him.
This doesn’t make the difficult moments easier, but you can understand that there is grace whenever you fall short. More than that, you can take some of the pressure off of yourself as God is the author and creator of life - He knew exactly what He was doing whenever He made you a mother and He prepares people for those tasks. Because of that, trust in Him. Read His Word. Point your family to Jesus Christ and love on them as Christ loves us!
If you are not a mother or if you did not have a Christian mother growing up - understand that God has a purpose for you!
Lottie Moon didn’t marry or have kids and she became one of the most faithful and dedicated missionaries in the history of the church. Everyone has a different calling in life and while we certainly have dreams and society has this ideal picture of how things should work, please know that God knows best and that God has a unique purpose just for you. Don’t conform to the ways of this world to fit in - be transformed and follow the Holy Spirit as Romans 12:1-2 say.
If you are a husband, encourage your wife to continue to be an Atypical woman.
Being a new father and a husband to a new mother, I’ve seen firsthand the amount of time, dedication, blood, sweat, and tears that go into raising a baby. This is a thankless job more times than not. There’s not a check to be had at the end of the pay period or a “thank you” to be given by the child. Husband, be the one who encourages and supports your wife. Encourage her to continue to work hard and to point your children to Jesus Christ.
If you are a child, don’t settle for typical - be exactly what Christ has called you to be.
The Psalmist says
13 For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.
Paul continues this in Ephesians
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
You are created for a purpose and that purpose is to glorify Jesus Christ. To be salt and light. To love God and to love others. Don’t settle for being just like the average 8, 9, 15, 16 year old. Be who God has created you to be!
Church, let’s normalize things that aren’t typical today. Let’s normalize reading the Bible at the dinner table. Let’s normalize having conversations with our kids about their faith in Jesus Christ as Susanna Wesley did with her 19 kids. Let’s normalize saying thank you to mothers who go above and beyond. Let’s normalize standing out in a world where people long to just fit in and go with the flow.
Jesus is greater and it is our calling to point people to Him!