A Mother’s Day for All Women Who Empower Others

Sunday is Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day is an opportunity to offer a special of word of blessing for the mothers who raised us, the wives who raise children with us, the daughters who have provided grandchildren, the foster parents who make a forever difference in the lives of children, and the volunteers in a variety of ways who offer motherly love to children not their own but who come to them for care. Faithful women who biologically, or through adoption, or through volunteerism, choose to invest in the next generation. There is no better example of woman power than women who empower.

It's fitting, then, to begin our sermon by reading one of the most powerful empowering texts in all the Bible—Paul’s greeting list to the church in Rome. Out of 28 names Paul singles out to greet, 10 belong to women.

There’s Phoebe (v.1), a woman so invested in the work of God at church Paul calls her a servant using the Greek word “deacon.” She is a “patron” who pours out her heart, her blood, sweat, tears, and money for the children of God.

There is Prisca, or Priscilla (v.3), who ministers along with her husband, but always gets top billing when the pair are mentioned together. She risked her neck for Paul’s own life. In fact, all the churches in Gentile territory know of her loving work.

There is Mary (v.6), who has “worked so very hard for you.”

There is Junia (v.7), a fellow prisoner who is “of note among the apostles.”

There are the Sisters. Maybe not blood sisters, but they are always together: Tryphena & Tryphosa (v.12), “workers in the Lord.”

There is Persis (v.12). She is so special she is the “beloved” Persis, “she has worked hard in the Lord.”

In verse 15 we find two more—Julia and the sister of Nereus.

But my favorite by far is Rufus’ mother. Did you find her there in verse 13? “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and also his mother—who has been a mother to me as well.”

This is more than a list of woman power. It is a blessing for all women who empower others. And isn’t that precisely what a mother is?

For, you see, raising children is not a personal thing; it is a community thing. The saying arising from African cultures “it takes a village to raise a child” is profoundly true. My children are blessed to learn about Jesus and grow into men and women of character through a laundry list of exemplars at my local church. Katie and I may be the most important figures in Grace’s and Henry’s lives right now…but we will not always be, nor are we the only important figures in their lives. Sitting on the second row is Grace’s teacher on Sundays; Sitting near the back is Henry’s. Scattered around are women who cared for my children nearly all their lives. When Katie needs to attend to Henry, there is no shortage of fill-in moms for Grace during Christian Soldiers. Several in our church are adopted grandparents. Here Grace and Henry learn that people are not all dangerous; they can be loving and safe. They learn that other children can be wonderfully gracious. Don’t think for one minute that your influence is anything other than profound in the life of my children. That is why Katie and I are raising her in this village.

Our best life looks more like a community. But not just any community will do. It must be a community of the willing, a community of those with a view toward others beside themselves. A community of those willing to get their hands dirty to bless the smallest lives among them.

My children have seen older women of our congregation dropping off meals, saying a kind word, giving them gifts bought with love. More than one has changed a diaper, and more than one has comforted them when they scraped s knee.

Dorothy Day once said about community life, “Everybody wants a revolution, but nobody wants to do the dishes.” Not in my church. In my church we experience the revolution of women who serve as mothers to my son and daughter, never stopping washing every dish.

This is why God made the church. This is why you are so important. This is why Paul told Timothy that in the church, “treat the older women as mothers” (1 Timothy 5:2).

Romans 16 teaches me that motherhood is not about biological children; it’s about influence upon another generation. All the women in our church are mothers in the faith: for Grace, for Henry, for Katie, and for me.

Even you who have no children of your own. In the church, you do. Psalm 113:9 says “He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!” (ESV)

I wish I knew more about Rufus’ mother….but I know that Paul was so deeply helped that he said “she has been a mother to me as well.”

Children are a gift from the Lord. Motherhood is profoundly special. And whether Mother’s day is a blessing for you or a challenge for you, see motherhood as your calling in your church. Love every daughter and every son. Be Jesus to your church, for that is how your church sees you.