“A Mother in Israel”

Mother’s Day 2002

Pastor Joe Fuiten

Scripture Reading: Judges 5:1-7 page 173

1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: 2 "When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves-- praise the LORD! 3 "Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel. 4 "O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. 5 The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel. 6 "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. 7 Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel.

After the conquest of Caanan under the leadership of Joshua, the Israelis entered a rather chaotic period for the next roughly 400 years. They had no central government. In times of trouble, however, God raised up judges. The judges were charismatic leaders who rallied the people to meet whatever enemy was oppressing them at the time. There were about a dozen judges in all. Only one of the dozen was a woman. Under her leadership a forty-year period of peace was ushered in.

Deborah was a mother in Israel who inspired the victory. She saw the need for victory because of the oppression of Jabin, King of Hazor. She heard the word of the Lord that now was the time to do something. She sent out the summons to Barak to go to the battle. In order for the victory to be won, she had to accompany Barak to the place of battle.[1] She didn’t do the fighting, but she was the catalyst for the positive outcome. In that sense she was the “mother” to the fighting men. She wanted Barak to get the credit, but it ended up going to her.

You may not be aware that Mother’s Day, as it was originally conceived was to be connected to Memorial Day. Memorial Day honored the soldiers who died in war. Mother’s Day honored the women who tended the wounded on both sides of the Civil War. It was inspired by and honored the role of women in the Civil War.

“In a resolution passed May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress established the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. Congress specified that on that day American flags should be flown outside homes and government buildings "as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country." But what does patriotism have to do with Mother's Day? The founder of Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis, saw the connection. Born in Grafton, West Virginia, in 1864, she witnessed the aftermath of the Civil War. Her mother, Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis, had spent the war organizing women to nurse wounded soldiers from North and South and generally tempting to hold her border state community together. After the war, Anna Maria started "Mothers' Friendship Days" to reconcile families divided by the conflict. Throughout her life, Anna Maria modeled ideal Victorian motherhood. She gave up her dreams of college to tend to an older husband and four children. She bore the loss of seven other children with grace. She taught Sunday school in the local Methodist church for 20 years and stayed active in benevolent work. Anna Maria's death in 1905 devastated her daughter. Two years later, Anna got the idea to found a holiday to remember her mother and all mothers, whom she felt could never be thanked enough. It was also Anna's idea to place Mother's Day near Memorial Day (which had been proclaimed in 1868) in recognition of women's contributions in wartime: sending sons and husbands to fight, tending the wounded, maintaining households alone, and encouraging peace and reconciliation. Memorial Day honored the sacrifices of men; Mother's Day would honor the sacrifices of women.”[2]

Research conducted by Carl George and others indicates that mothers are the key influencers in church growth. In their study, particularly mothers of children who are in about the fifth or sixth grade had a strong influence. They motivated their churches to grow because they wanted greater opportunities for their children than their church currently offered. To increase the opportunities, they needed the church to grow. They made it happen. The “mothers in Israel” provided the key to church growth. They inspired others to success.

Generalizations can easily be defeated by citing the cases where they are not true. However, they are generalizations for the very fact that they are most often true. I would like to try a generalization this morning. Even though you can cite examples where it is not true, bear with me. Here is my generalization:

Women are functioning at their peak performance when they are inspiring someone to succeed. This is also a wonderful definition of motherhood.

I think women in leadership handicap themselves and their potential with some wrong thinking. They mistakenly think that men will not follow them because they are women. They forget that every man had a mother who he willingly and happily followed. If a woman will be a “mother in Israel,” she will have a powerful influence and can rise to any level of leadership in any organization.

You will rise to the top of any organization if you can inspire people around you to succeed. You see the vision. You call others to the task. If they won’t go by themselves, you go with them. This is leadership. This is motherhood.

I think you can see the same qualities in a New Testament woman named Lydia in Acts 16:12-15. “From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.” (NIV)

First, let’s let the story tell us its primary message. Paul preached the Gospel, God opened their hearts, and people got saved. These were the first European converts to this new Asian religion called Christianity.

Next, let’s take the story in the direction I am going and look at it as an illustration of Lydia as a “mother in Israel.”

Lydia was most likely the visionary leader of this prayer group. She made things happen by praying in small groups of women. She was a business woman who was hundreds of miles from home. That in itself showed that she was willing to move and get things done. She saw the opportunity. She traveled to make it happen. As a spiritual woman, she probably was inspiring the ladies to follow God.

She made things happen by worshipping God in an orderly way. This was not a random woman. It was the Sabbath and it was time to pray. She was there. The fact that it was by a river outside the city was the Jewish custom where no synagogue existed. Because of the lack of male leadership, they formed their own prayer place.

She made things happen by doing the good works of inviting Paul and company to her home. As a “mother in Israel” she knew that Paul, Timothy, Luke and the others she come to her home. They apparently resisted. Her answer was clever. She basically said, “Paul, you are a fine preacher and you can see that I am impressed by what you have said here. If I have truly believed, and you accept me, come stay at my house.” She has been a Christian for 10 minutes and already she is leading the Apostles down the road. The great leader made the decision and followed the “mother in Israel.”

From the first, the church was founded upon relationship. It was relationship to God and now fellowship within God’s people. The fellowship was inspired by a “mother in Israel.”

I have had the privilege of seeing three generations of mothers. My own mother was a “mother in Israel.” She led as a Pastor and inspired her husband to be a Barak and win victories for God’s work.

Linda is the mother of our four children. Over these 31 years that we have been married I have seen her develop as a person and become confident in who she is. Having successfully raised two girls and two boys she has learned how to have an influence. We are very proud of our children and what they have become and are becoming. They owe a lot to their mother who is a “mother in Israel” to her family. I love to see the confidence that grows in women as they navigate the waters of motherhood. It is definitely a training ground for leaders.

Rosalind and Sandra, our daughters, have become mothers. They both have roles, not only in their own families, but also in the Lord’s work. They are learning to become a “mother in Israel.”

Deborah understood that leadership of people is nothing more than corporate mothering. Pastors maybe should be called “mother superior” rather than Father. If God referred to himself as having motherly qualities, maybe it is not bad that we do as well. As leaders we can say, I saw the need, I heard from God, I inspired someone to succeed in the battle. I am a “mother in Israel.”

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[1] Judges 4:8-9 “Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go." 9 "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, (NIV)

[2] Elesha Coffman, Christian History, May 2002.