What Moms Teach Us
WRITTEN BY DREW MATZ
Reflections On Mother’s Day
“Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.”
-Romans 16:13
Mother’s Day is, and remains, a secular holiday. In fact, it probably owes just as much to greeting card companies for its prominence in our society than to anything else. It may be surprising, therefore, that there is a common anecdote among churchgoers that Mother’s Day is often the second most highly attended service of the year behind Easter. This may come as a great surprise to many. After all, as we noted, Mother’s Day does not have its origins in the church. Yet, it does testify to the place and importance of mothers – both in the life of the church and our society, more broadly.
The scriptures testify to the Godly and sacred role of motherhood. From Eve all the way up to Mary, we see God working in the life of mothers from the mundane to the miraculous. In and through mothers, God continually makes the impossible possible: giving birth through the barren and conceiving through a virgin. In the womb of Mary, God, himself, took on flesh and became man, being given over to the tender care of his mother to be raised into adulthood. In this, we see the sacred vocation of motherhood laid out before us in the most profound of ways. It is through them that God works and forms his people in the “little kingdom” of the home and family.
“A mother’s devotion is perhaps the most powerful witness to a society that has largely forgotten the importance of the family and the unique roles that mothers bring to our lives. ”
Unfortunately, this sacred vocation has been diminished in our society as the role of the mother is often underappreciated – even lambasted as something that should not be prioritized over things like careers or worldly ambitions. A mother can have other responsibilities, to be sure, but the exaltation of freedom from motherhood has certainly been on the rise, and often to the detriment of the family unit. We often just think of motherhood as a begrudged responsibility with nothing sacred or indispensable about the role. Ask anyone who has lost their mother and you’ll most likely find that this is not at all the case. Those who have lost their mothers understand the gaping chasm in their lives that is left when their mothers are no longer here.
Despite society's neglect of motherhood, there is still a certain residual consciousness of the importance and the role of the mother underneath it all, which brings us back to the phenomenon of high church attendance on Mother’s Day. There is a sense in which we all know how important and valuable the role of mothers are in shaping our lives and society. At bottom, we know the powerful effects of a mother’s devotion to God and family, and the mountain-moving power of a mother’s prayers for the life and salvation of her children. A mother’s devotion is perhaps the most powerful witness to a society that has largely forgotten the importance of the family and the unique roles that mothers bring to our lives.
Therefore, this Mother’s Day, remember all the great mothers in scripture. Ponder upon the faithful prayers of Hannah, the faithfulness of Elizabeth, and the devotion of Mary to her son, our Lord. Let us rediscover once again the sacred vocation of motherhood, and thank God for the gifts he gives us therein.
