“Are You My Mother?”

A Mother’s Day Sermon from Galatians 4

Do you remember this book? 

• “Are You My Mother?” (Read portions of the book by P.D. Eastman) 
• [I read the book]
• This question is not a biology lesson.  Is motherhood mere biology?  NO.

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE MOTHER’S SOUL

I did not become a mother in the conventional way.  I could have chosen to get pregnant, but my husband and I decided to start our family instead through adoption - the adoption of special-needs children waiting for home and family.

We knew we were going to face the raised eyebrows and rude questions, but we still felt this was the right route for us.  Someday, I may give birth to a child, and I know that experience will be incredible and moving in its own special way.  Just as the night I first became a mother.

We were adopting brothers - Jesse, age five, and Mario, age four.  One look at the pictures of the boys as they had been discovered, dangerously underweight and sickly, had banished any doubts we might have had.  We had accepted them wholeheartedly before we even met.  But would they accept us?

Rather than sharing a first bath, or feeding my child for the very first time, I found myself sitting cross-legged on the floor of a stranger's home, trying unsuccessfully to snap two pieces of plastic together in order to form a Lego submarine with one my new sons.

I couldn't keep my eyes off my boys' faces.  Mario's hands flew over the speedboat he was constructing, though occasionally he would stop to look at me and make sure I was still there.            He was gorgeous - long eyelashes dusting his cheeks, big hazel eyes fixed intently on the project at hand.  I couldn't believe he was four; he was so small, looking more like a two-year-old, and I cringed as I thought about the "before" pictures I had seen earlier.  Now, he looked almost stout - chubby legs running back and forth, carrying toys he wanted to show us.  He was so happy, so trusting.

Jesse, on the other hand, seemed much older than his five years.  Though he was due to turn six in just a few months, he carried himself more like an eight- or nine-year-old - very serious and extremely concerned about his brother's welfare and behavior.  We watched as he corrected Mario several times throughout the evening and protectively hovered over him, ensuring that these strangers - his new parents - wouldn't harm the little brother he had worked all of his short life to protect and raise.

Would he ever let us take over the parenting chores so that he, himself, could be a child - not again, but for the very first time?  I hoped there was still a small window where the ability to trust a grown-up could enter Jesse's young life.  Had I taken on more than I knew how to handle?

"Mom, will you unhand me that piece?" I heard a small voice next to me ask.

The voice came again, this time a little louder.

"Mom, will you hand me that piece, please?"

I turned to look at Jesse to let him know his foster mother had left the room for a minute, but I stopped in mid-sentence because I could see he was looking at me.

Mom...?

"Do...do...you mean me, Jesse?" I asked quietly.

He nodded his head solemnly and pointed over my shoulder.

"I need that piece on the table," he said, his dark eyes focusing on mine.

I reached behind me, took the small, blue piece from the coffee table and handed it to him.  He smiled.

"Thank you," he said politely, snapping it into place.

"Um, can I hug you?  Would that be okay?" I was scared to ask this.  It was like asking a 30-year-old.  But I so wanted him to be five.  It was time to five.

He hesitated, then looked at me.  I could see he was thinking hard.  Could he trust me?

Then he nodded.    "Yeah," he said, putting down his submarine.

I reached out, and he came to me and sat on my lap.  I enveloped him with my embrace and held him as closely as I could.  I could feel him put his arms around my neck and hug me back.

In that moment I knew that he was giving me the gift of being a mother.  And maybe, just maybe, I could give him the gift of being a child.[1]

Transition: 

This morning we are going to take a look at Galatians 4 and we will look at this question “Are you my Mother?” and discover that the question is an important one, and not a question about biology, but much much more.  We will discover that it is a question that we should ask again.

I want you to look for references to mothers and children as we listen to this chapter being read this morning.  I found references to mothers in no less than 15 of these verses.

FOCUS: Children of the promise will look like their mother. 

READ GALATIANS 4

Galatians 4:1-31

(Mother’s Day Appropriate phrases are underlined, and the verse number highlighted )

[1]   What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.

[We were once like children, now we are heirs.  Grown up, free to live for God, make decisions.]

[2] He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

[3] So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.

[Slavery to Religion ]

[4] But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,

[5] to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

[6] Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

[We have God’s Spirit in our hearts.]

[7] So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. 

[Freedom in a new father/son Relationship, full rights as heirs]

[8] Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

[9] But now that you know God--or rather are known by God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

[10] You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

[11] I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

[12] I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.

[13] As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.

[14] Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.

[15] What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

 [16] Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

[17] Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them.

[18] It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.

[19] My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

[20] how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

[21] Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?

 [22] For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

[23] His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.

[24] These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.

[Represents two covenants (old, natural, self effort, vs.  new, spiritual, from the promise)]

[25] Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

 [26] But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

[27] For it is written:  "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband."

Sarah has more descendents than Hagar even though she was the barren one

[28] Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

We are children of Abraham

[29] At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.

 [30] But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."

[31] Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. 

I.  Paul’s Question:  Who Is Your Mother? 

By way of illustration Paul asks this question:  Are you a Child of the Promise? Or are you a child of the slave woman?  Are you like Ishmael, or Isaac.  The Jew’s would want to answer, “we are children of Isaac, the line of promise.”  But Paul demonstrates that they are behaving more like children of the slave mother than children of the promise. [2]

Galatians 4:22-25

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.

24These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

 Mt Sinai, represents earthly Jerusalem (and bondage to the Old Covenant), Hagaar

Or Sarah,  Jerusalem from Above?

One operates more like slavery according rules of religion.

Another operates more like a relationship according to the promice of Grace, because we have been adopted and become heirs with rights as sons of the promise.

One was naturally born (like Jews of the flesh)

One was supernaturally born, because of the promise (like the Gentiles who were grafted in by grace because of the promise).

II.  Paul Answer:  Look in the Mirror (5:25-26)

You will look like your mother—either the Free Woman, or the Slave Woman.

Before they became Christian the Galatians were enslaved to false deities, and to sin.  They were slave children, enslaved to sin.  But then they accepted Christ and became children of the promise.  The Jews on the other hand were originally children of the promise, but they began acting like children of the slave woman!  There are many kinds of slave masters.  Self reliance through religion is one of them.  There are many kinds of slave masters.  Do any of these slave masters exert control over you:

·       Accomplishment—the lure of personal fulfillment

·       Approval of others—the lure of measuring up to peer expectations

·       Autonomy—the craving to do it my way or no way

·       Chemical Addictions—usually accompanied by denial

·       Pleasure—entertainment as the ultimate pursuit

·       Sexual addiction—slavery to pornography, or some other form of sexual immorality

·       Success—the drive to reach the top, to be number one

·       Wealth—security promised through the accumulation of money, power, and possessions.

Perhaps the slavery the Judaizers advocated was a little less obvious than these other slave masters.  Nevertheless, Paul was saying, “just look in the mirror to see who you look like, the free woman or the slave woman?”  Are we acting like children of the free woman, free to love, responding to grace in joy.  Children of the promise.  Or are we acting like the slave mother, doing our duty because we have to.  Here are the options in stark terms.  The Judaizers presented a “We Have To—Religion” whereas Paul offered a “We want to—Relationship”.  There is a stark difference between the two.  One is an outside in system of “we have to” duties.  The other is an inside out system of “we want to-s” because of a changed heart, and an empowered life that comes through a relationship with Jesus.  The Galatians were being pressured to turn from a “we love to—relationship” back to a “We have to—religion.”  One is a system of slavery and another a system of freedom to truly love in relationships.

I want you to think about this for a moment.  Would mothers for example rather receive flowers on mothers day from a dutiful child that says.  “Here’s your flowers, afterall its my duty.  This is mothers day.”  Or would mothers rather receive the flowers or anything else as an expression of love”?  Which do you think God wants—Religion from duty, or love from relationship?  Where’s the joy?

A.  A Child’s Joy (4:15)

[15] What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

Evaluate your joy quotient.  Is your joy gone?  Why?  Legalism will choke out your joy.  You will never measure up to legalistic demands, but you can measure up by grace.  God Loves you.  Live in that love.  Respond to his love.  Believe he loves you and act out of that belief and joy will return.

The Galatian Christians used to live out their gratitude naturally.  Gratefully caring because they were cared for.  Gratefully loving because they were loved.  Once they went back to legalistic effort, everything was duty, rather than love.  How fun is duty?  Nowhere near as joyful as love.

More Examples: 

It’s my duty to take you out for lunch

It’s my duty to love you.

It sounds like a cross to bear, not love.

Legalism makes everything come from duty.  Grace makes everything come from love.  You tell me, which system has more joy.  The New Covenant is the way of joy and love, and Paul’s question that forces some introspection helps bring us back to the correct place.  [15] What has happened to all your joy?

·       To know and to be known.  (4:9)

Verse 9 tells us the secret of a child’s joy.

[9] But now that you know God--or rather are known by God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

This means we are approved already.  Therefore, we don’t need to turn back to the miserable principles of duty, or religion; these are enslaving.  We don’t need to, nor can we EARN approval from God.  The fact of the matter is, when you try this approach, you PROVE that you do NOT know God.

The Bible tells us we can know God. 

Jeremiah 9:23-24 This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord.

Jesus underscored this when he prayed:

John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

B.  A Child’s Pain (4:29)

[29] At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.

Another parallel was that the son of Hagar, born in the ordinary way, was persecuting the son of promise, born as a result of the promise.  This happened in the life time of Abraham.  The parallel was happening in First century Galatia.  It happens today in the Middle East conflict, that has now spilled over to the West.  We are living out that conflict today with the persecution of Christians by the Muslim world today.  But it isn’t just a conflict between the physical offspring of Hagaar and Christians.  It is the recurring conflict of legalism against Grace.

·       What is the best answer to a child’s pain? 

·       Answer:  Mothering!  (5:19)

Paul uses the language of mothering on himself!

[19] My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

Again!  Labor pains are bad enough, how frustrating to have to go through them multiple times for the same child!  Parenting can be a painful thing.  Spiritual parenting also.

There’s a principle here. 

Margaret H. Cobb wrote,

   My thirteen-year-old daughter is perhaps having more trouble than some teens "discovering who she is" because she is adopted from South Korea and we have no idea who her birth mother might be.

   Recently Amy received braces on her teeth and she was more and more uncomfortable as the day wore On. By bedtime she was miserable. I gave her some medication and invited her to snuggle up with me for awhile. Soon she became more comfortable and drowsy. In a small voice that gradually tapered off to sleep she said, "Mom, I know who my real mom is, it is the one who takes away the hurting."

THE ANSWER TO A CHILD'S PAIN

Philip Anderson wrote,

   "Not long ago I visited my sister, a director of patient services for the children's unit of a large southern California hospital. She was conducting me on a tour through that unit. All the time--echoing through the halls--we could hear the cry of a baby coming from one of the rooms. Finally, we came to that room. It was a little child, about a year old, covered with terrible bruises, scratches, scars, from head to toe.

   At first, I assumed the child must have been involved in a terrible accident. Then I looked closely at its legs. Written in ink all over them were obscenities. My sister told me that the child was the victim, not of an accident, but of its parents. Its internal injuries were so severe that it couldn't keep any food down. The scars on the bottom of its feet were burns caused by cigarettes.

   If you've ever had trouble visualizing the consequences of human indifference--the perversion of life's basic relationships--what God himself is up against in this world of ours--I wish you could have looked with me at that battered, crying baby!

   But I want to tell you what happened then. My sister leaned over the crib, and very carefully and tenderly lifted the child, and held it next to herself. At first the child screamed all the more, as if its innocent nature had come to be suspicious of every touch. But as she held it securely and warmly, the baby slowly began to quiet down. And finally, in spite of wounds and hurts and past experience, it felt the need to cry no more.

What's the answer to the world's pain?  In one word -- "Mothering".  Are you willing to apply this concept even if you are not a mother?  Consider Paul's words below:

Galatians 4:19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

Are you willing to go through labor pains on behalf of someone else.  When someone is in so much pain that they don't let you get close to them, you can still "hold them" through prayer.  Carry their pain.  Ushering a person into the Kingdom of God through process of rebirth runs along parallel lines to the painful process of natural birth.  I wonder if this parallel is why pain in childbirth was a consequence of the fall.  Because of sin, the process of rebirth also causes pain to the "mother".  God was willing to pay the great price of pain for our rebirth, and he asks us to pay the price of labor pains so that others can be ushered into the Family of God.

Here’s what I want you to Feel:

·       The warmth of unconditional Love.

Here’s what I want you to Know: 

·       We have been adopted into God’s own Household because of Jesus, and God’s Grace.

Here’s What I want you to Do:

·       Take a look in the mirror—do you look like a child of the promise, by grace reflecting the image of God’s love.

·       To a certain degree, babies don’t yet look like their parents…that takes time; over time however, they should be looking more and more like their parents.  Are you a child of God?  Let your life reflect the image of godliness.

·       Receive God’s love this morning.  Receive God’s Grace. 

·       Turn away from any false masters.

·       Pray for someone God has placed in your life that needs some tender “mothering”—they need some grace, they need someone to care, they need someone to stand in the gap for them.  Paul did this.  You can to.