FAITHFUL AS MOTHERS

II Timothy 1:4-5

INTRODUCTION:

Three ladies were exercising pride in their grown sons.  The first lady told of the extravagant birthday parties her son provided her.  “Why he even hired a full band for my last birthday.”  The second lady bragged about how her son gave her such lavish vacations.  “Just last month he sent me to Hawaii for the fourth time.”  The third woman was not to be outdone and she piped up, “That’s nothing. My son has been paying a psychiatrist $200 a week for the last three years just so he can talk about me.”

Mothers do like to brag about their children, don’t they?  And most of us want to give our mothers a reason to brag.

In Acts 16, we meet a young man a mother could brag about.  His name was Timothy and notice what was said of him.

¹ He [Paul] came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. ^2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

Timothy lived in the city of Lystra.  In II Timothy 1:5, we learn that Timothy’s mother’s name was Eunice.  Luke, the author of the book of Acts, records that he came from a racially mixed and a religiously divided home.  His mother, Eunice was a Jew and his father was a Greek.  His mother was a believer in Jesus and his father was not.  Yet Luke also tells us that the Christian brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy.

Obviously Eunice did something right.  In fact, she must have done a lot of things very right because Timothy was rather prominent in the early church.  His name appears 25 times in the New Testament.  In almost every one of those 25 occurrences, Timothy is presented as a trusted companion of the apostle Paul and one to whom Paul delegated important responsibility.  In fact, by the time he was in his mid to late 30s, Timothy was leading the great church in Ephesus. 

In II Timothy 1:5, Paul credits Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, for the faith that Timothy possessed.  Paul wrote:

^4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ^5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

This morning, I want us to look at the traits of a mother who was successful in shaping a Christian leader.  My hope is that 21^st Century mothers will want to emulate Eunice, that 1^st Century model of motherhood. 

I.    FAITH WAS AT HOME IN HER HEART

The first characteristic of Eunice that I want to point out is that faith was at home in her heart. 

I do not believe it was easy for Eunice to love and worship God.  Lystra has been described as being “in a wild district and among a rude population.” It was in Lystra that Paul healed a lame man and so impressed the ignorant and superstitious citizens that they took him for the Greek god Mercury and believed that his partner in ministry, Barnabas, was Jupiter.  The Lysterenes prepared to offer sacrifices to these two that they had taken to be gods, until Paul stopped them and turned their attention to Jesus as the source of the lame man’s healing.

It was in Lystra, on this same visit, that the fickle people later stoned Paul, dragged his body outside the city and left him for dead.  Lystra, Timothy’s hometown, was a rough and tumble sort of place.

Jewish practice was that any city with as many as ten Hebrew men could have a synagogue.  But there was no synagogue in Lystra.  Obviously there was not a very prominent Jewish presence among the men of the town.

But there were, in the town, a couple of significant Jewish women.  Lois was a devout Jew and so was her daughter, Eunice.  At some point, both of these committed women came to know Jesus as the Messiah who had been prophesied in the Scriptures.  But there is no record that their husbands became disciples of Jesus.  In fact, the wording of Paul’s greeting to Timothy leaves little reason to believe that Timothy’s father or grandfather was a Christian.

All of which just underscores the level of commitment of these two godly women.  For them, being a Christian was not a social convention; it was a radical commitment.  Theirs was not a ceremonial religion; it was a genuine faith in God.

What is it that causes a woman to hold to her faith despite the challenges Eunice faced?  It is that her faith was at home in her heart.  By that, I mean her faith was authentic, genuine and sincere.  It was not just for show or effect, but rather it sprang from her honest beliefs, true values and real principles. 

That is why Paul commended Timothy’s sincere faith, which Paul said first lived in Timothy’s mother, Eunice, as well as in his grandmother, Lois.  Theirs was a sincere faith.

When a young person grows up observing the sincere faith of his mother, it will have a lasting impact on his life.  It has on mine.  I can remember my mother, out of bed before any of her children, at the kitchen table with her head bent as she read her Bible or bowed as she said her prayers.  Seeing this day after day, not as some religious ritual but as a sincere expression of her priorities, made an impact on me, my brothers and my sister.  I can honestly say that for my mother, faith was at home in her heart. 

For her to talk to her co-workers about her faith was as natural for her as it is for some others to talk about a favorite sports team or a favorite television show.  When she was a teacher in the Mt. Vernon Community High School, she helped to start a before-school Bible study among the teachers.  For her, that was no more unusual than it would have been for others to start a bridge club or a knitting circle. 

Authentic expressions of genuine faith are a natural outgrowth of sincere faith like that of Eunice.  And faith like that is often hereditary…it is passed on from one generation to the next.  Eunice raised a Godly Christian servant because faith was at home in her heart.

And she raised a Godly Christian servant because faith was at the heart of her home.

II.    FAITH WAS AT THE HEART OF HER HOME

You see, faith was at home in her heart because her salvation was important to her.  And faith was at the heart of her home because the salvation of her son was important to her, too.

Obviously Timothy was taught to seek God from the time he was a child.  In II Timothy 3:15, Paul said of Timothy, “…from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures…” Now how do you suppose that happened?  It happened because Eunice taught the Holy Scriptures to her son.  Eunice did not rely on a priest, a rabbi or a Pharisee to teach her son.  Remember, there wasn’t even a synagogue in Lystra.  Apparently there weren’t as many as ten Jewish men in the whole town.  No, Eunice taught the boy the Scriptures, herself. 

It would appear that Timothy had been taught the Old Testament Scriptures while he was a child and then when he heard the apostle Paul preach that Jesus is the Messiah, his heart was fertile soil to receive the truth.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard so-called Christian parents say, “I am not going to push my beliefs off on my child.  When he is old enough, he will make his choice on his own.”  These are usually the same parents who try to influence what sports their children play, what extra-curricular activities they participate in and which college they attend.  But faith in Jesus as Savior, the most important decision a person can ever make, is left up to chance!!!

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard parents who are church members say, “My mom and dad made me go to church when I was a kid.  I’m not going to make my kids go to church.”  Well, guess what: my parents made me go to school and I made my kids go to school.  You know why?  Not just because it’s the laws but because an education is important.  My parents made me take a bath and I made my kids take baths, too…because hygiene is important.  My parents made me go to church as a child and I made my kids go to church…and not because I am a minister but because their souls are important. 

Can I be very blunt with you?  Here’s the deal: I want to spend eternity with my children and that will not happen if they have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and if they do not have an ongoing, vital relationship with him.  And they are not likely to have an ongoing, vital relationship with Jesus apart from being actively involved in the church. 

I do not hesitate to say that it is more important that my children be saved than it is that they be educated.  How do you feel about your kids?  I do not hesitate to say that it is more important that my children’s sins be washed away than that their dirt and sweat be washed away.  How do you feel about your kids? 

Godly parents will begin teaching their children about the things of God from a young age.  Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”  The word ‘train’ doesn’t just mean ‘teach’.  It literally means to prepare for a contest.  Satan is in a contest for the souls of our children.  He wants as many of them as possible to share in his awful fate.  Like a coach training an athlete for a contest, Godly mothers (and fathers, too) are to train their children to defeat the enemy of their souls.  But this is no game and the outcome has eternal consequences.

Someone has said, “Have you ever wondered why so many parents tie up their dog, but let their children run loose?”  It makes you wonder if they care more about the welfare of their dog.

What really needs to happen is that children be taught to discriminate.  Now, in light of Don Imus’ comments, Al Sharpton’s remark and a host of other bigoted statements, you may say, “No, I don’t want my children to discriminate.”  But I am not talking about discriminating against someone because of the color of his skin or because of his ancestry or anything like that.  I am talking about discriminating between what is sin and what is not, what is right and what is wrong, between what is true and what is false.  It is the duty of a Godly parent to teach his child discrimination or discernment about these most important matters.   Dr. James Dobson said that faith like that is not taught: it is caught.  When faith is at the heart of the home, children catch it and then become carriers, passing their faith along. 

A cartoon pictured a little girl asking her mother, “Mommy, what is a Christian?”  The mother thought for a moment and then replied, “A Christian is a person who loves and obeys God, loves her friends, her neighbors and even her enemies. She is kind and gentle and prays a lot.  She looks forward to going to heaven and thinks that knowing God is better than anything on this earth. That is a Christian!”

The little girl took a couple of moments to consider what her mother had said, and then asked, “Mommy, have I ever seen a Christian?”  When faith is at the heart of your home, your child won’t have to ask that question.

CONCLUSION:

Stephen Freed wrote about watching his father slowly and painfully deteriorate from an incurable disease.  One day, Freed asked his 15-year-old daughter, “Elizabeth, what will you do if I end up like Granddaddy some day.”  Freed said that his daughter paused for only a brief moment and then said, “I don’t know, Dad but I’m watching you to find out.” 

Mothers, your children are watching you to find out about a lot of important things.  They are watching you to find out about what is really important in life.  They are watching you to find out how mature adults act.  They are watching you to find out about values, priorities and boundaries.  They are watching you to find out about relationships, commitments and service.  They are watching you to find out if Jesus is real, if he is relevant and if he is important.

 Have you ever seen a little girl go rummaging through her mother’s clothes and makeup and put it all on so that she can be like mom?  It’s really very cute, isn’t it?  Mothers, let me ask you, if your children put on Christ the way you have put on Christ, will they be presentable when they appear before their heavenly Father?  Make sure faith is at home in your heart and is at the heart of your home so your children have the best chance possible of being presentable before their Father in heaven.

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