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1 Peter 4:7-14

⁷The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. ⁸Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: ¹¹whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The end is near. Peter said so nearly two-thousand years ago, and this world hasn’t gotten any better. But we are not told to panic and worry. Instead, Scripture tells us to be self-controlled, sober-minded, loving, hospitable, and to use the gifts God has given us so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Today, we are going to consider God’s good gift of motherhood because whether or not you are a mother, you have a mother. And in the gift of motherhood, we see the beauty of God’s love for us.

When our society decides to dedicate a day to celebrate one of the Ten Commandments, we in the church say, “Fantastic idea. Let’s do it!” Actually, our society has dedicated two whole days to the 4^thCommandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother.”

Through the vocation of motherhood, God chose to save the world – literally. God’s act of creation and salvation intersect in the office of motherhood. In the opening chapters of Scripture, God creates man and woman telling them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” However, Satan attacked God’s good creation, and all humanity fell because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience.

After the Fall, God said that He would put enmity between the devil and the woman, and between the devil’s offspring and the woman’s offspring. God promised that an Offspring of the woman would come and crush the serpent’s head even as the serpent bruised His heel. God was promising to send Jesus as He gave this first promise of the virgin birth of our Savior.

Adam and Eve clearly believed this because it was only after this promise that Adam gives his wife the name Eve. Before that, she was simply called ‘woman.’ Now, Eve was going to be the mother of all the children in all creation. So why does Adam change her name to Eve, which means ‘life-giver’? Because they both believed God’s promise to defeat Satan and remove the curse of sin and death that they had brought into the world.

This is why the devil attacks the family and especially motherhood. Satan attacked the family right away in the jealous feud Cain had with Abel. That attack continued down through the birth of Jesus when the devil roused Herod to kill the infant boys in Bethlehem. And the attack continues today in our culture of death.

Whenever there is a child in the womb of a mother, the devil sees a reminder of the Christ Child. So, Satan has filled our society with his lies thatmotherhood is not a burden worth bearing. Instead, the devil tries to make everything about me: my plans, my rights, my body, my choice. Too often today, children in the womb are said to be parasites when they are God’s greatest gift after the forgiving blood of Jesus.

But even as we Christians point this outand proclaim repentance and forgiveness for those who would kill children in the womb where they should be protected, we are accused of only caring for children in the womb and not when they are born. Let those attacks come. But let us all live our lives in such a way that those attacks are completely baseless and totally untrue.

God’s intent is that we, His creatures, continue with Him in His work of creation having children and continuing life through families – fathers, mothers, and children. Mothers know how to suffer for the sake of the lives of their children. When God said to Eve, “In pain you will bring forth children,” He wasn’t only speaking about the pain of labor and birth. Every mother continues to know the pain and suffering that goes into the responsibility of nurturing, caring for, and raising children. They make sacrifices, shed tears, and worry for their children. Mothers, you are doing God’s good work when you do those things.

So, all of you, thank your mom because mothers are a picture of how Jesus picked up our sorrows and carried our burdens. He suffered for your sake, for your eternal life, and for your salvation. Like Jesus, mothers lay down their lives for the sake of others.

In college, I studied a poem by Billy Collins titled The Lanyard. In it, the poet remembers how he crafted a lanyard for his mother while he was away at camp even though he had no idea what a lanyard was or what a person would do with it. Here is a bit of that poem:

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
‘Here are thousands of meals,’ she said,
‘and here is clothing and a good education.’
‘And here is your lanyard,’ I replied,
‘which I made with a little help from a counselor.’
‘Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world,’ she whispered,
‘and here,’ I said, ‘is the lanyard I made at camp.’

The poem closes with Collins wishing he could give his mother a different gift – an apology. He wants to confess that when he gave his mother that lanyard as a young boy he thought it was enough to make him even with her.

But here’s the point, mothers are glad to have gifts from their children. They love getting the drawings and sketches, the poorly spelled notes and letters, and the bouquets of dandelions from their children – not because those things are so well-done – but because they love their children. They don’t care about the artistry or worth of what their children give. They love their children and, therefore, they love what their children do.

The same is even more true of God. God isn’t concerned about you repaying Him so that you are even. Your prayers, your tithes, your acts of charity toward your neighbor are infinitesimally less than a son giving his mother a lanyard. But that doesn’t matter to God.

Christian, what you do in faith is never in vain. God takes what you do in faith and uses it to serve your neighbor so that He is glorified.

So, as our text here says, as you see that the end of all things is at hand, as each of you has received a gift, use it. Use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.