Motherhood - An Artistic Endeavour
Sermon Review
12 May 2002
(Gen 1:26-28)Introduction:
How To Bake A Cake: Light oven; get out utensils and ingredients. Remove blocks and toy autos from table. Grease pan, crack nuts. Measure two cups of flour; remove Johnny's hands from flour; wash flour off him. Remeasure flour. Put flour, baking powder, and salt in sifter. Get dustpan and brush up pieces of bowl Johnny knocked on floor. Get another bowl. Answer doorbell. Return to kitchen. Remove Johnny's hands from bowl. Wash Johnny. Answer phone. Return. Remove 1/4 inch of salt from greased pan. Look for Johnny. Grease another pan. Answer telephone. Return to kitchen and find Johnny. Remove his hands from bowl. Take up greased pan and find layer of nutshell in it. Head for Johnny who flees, knocking bowl off table. Wash kitchen floor, tables, walls, dishes. Call baker. Lie down.
At times it must seem as though Motherhood, with its sleepless nights, dirty nappies, frustration, and unparalleled range of anxiety-provoking problems, demands, and disappointments, that God must not be in it - that it is a human invention, and not a divine one. Well, despite all this, mothering is a divine invention, as Gen.1 tells us. Male and Female, both equally in the image of God, he made them, with the commission to multiply and fill the earth, as well as be stewards of nature. Being married and being a mother then has divine sanction - so remember this mothers, when your patience wears thin, and sleep deprivation or pressure overload sets in.
Of course, not all are able to be biological Mothers, due to medical or other problems, even with all the help that is available today. And some who can be mothers, though married, choose not to be. This is not wrong or unspiritual, though some might think so. Any person of faith has to wrestle with population issues on this earth. When is 'full', 'full'? When every inch of square earth is peopled? When local geography can no longer sustain them? When the economic and social structures are unable to provide for all? When does the command to multiply run headlong into the command to subdue and have dominion over the earth - that is, to steward and care for it as God intended, not ruining it through over-population?
Paul gives us a helpful precedent when he passes on his judgments to the Corinthian people in his time. He actually cites 'troubled times' as a basis for deferring or putting off marriage altogether (1Cor.7:29-31), the very institution in which children are a subordinate part, remembering that companionship was the first - 'it is not good for man to be alone' Gen.2. Paul leaves the door open to weighing up 'the times', 'one's circumstances' or 'life situation', about marriage, and therefore by implication, in relation to having children, or choosing to limit the number. Whether it is economic trouble, health complications, a dysfunctional relationship, or similar 'troubling times' involved, for some, it is best to either not have children, or to defer them till a more appropriate time when conditions or circumstances change, or to limit the number you have.
I believe that within marriage, having children or not is an area of legitimate choice and calls for wisdom. I would encourage you to seek God for particular guidance with respect to your own situation. Whatever your choice though, Motherhood is a special privilege - God given, and vastly underrated today, mostly by Mothers themselves.
Today I would encourage those of you who are mothers to see yourselves as very privileged and special, and involved in a great cooperative artistic endeavour with the Grand Artist God. Artistry: Art comes in many forms eg. music, painting, sculpturing, written and spoken speech, singing etc. I wonder if you have ever viewed mothering as an art form? I was reading once of a women who was tired of being referred to as a plain everyday run of the mill housewife, for she was sure within herself that hers was a most important job. She said, 'I am trying to raise children in this mad world and keep my husband happy - if that's not art, what is?' So when applying for a credit card with an institution, instead of domestic duties, she wrote 'artist'. Upon perusing the document, the clerk looked at her with new respect and she felt a tremendous boost in confidence. Rushing home rather elated, she set herself the task of making a new masterpiece for dessert, and she could hardly wait to take the hot iron and redesign the pile of crumpled clothes in her ironing cupboard.
The fact is that whether you are improving furniture, fixing up children's bedrooms, reading bedtime stories, changing nappies, designing or sewing clothes, creating new salads, meals, desserts, cooking cakes, planting flower beds, taking children to school, or schooling them yourself - you are playing the role of an artist. Whether you need to work outside the home to make ends meet and care for your children, or you have the opportunity not, it is still the same task at hand. You are creatively pouring-out yourself in a bid to mother and care for your children and family. You are engaging in moulding and shaping raw material, lives as well as material things, into something beautiful. Isn't that what an artist does? He/She takes some kind of raw material and shapes it into something beautiful eg. a voice, paint, a mind, a life.
However you achieve it, shaping your children and your family life means that you are an artist - an exceptionally talented person. In some respects you are like God. He is the creator of masterpieces 'par excellence' eg. Creation (Gen.1,2), New Creations (Eph.2:10; 2Cor.5:17; Rev.21:1). If you are a mother, then the grand artist God has called you to the task of mothering, and like him in his creative endeavours, you are likewise called into the role of an artist. So express your creativity and enjoy the task before you. Working with the Grand Artist: But while being an individual artist, the Grand Artist calls mothers into a cooperative endeavour, not a lone task.
This is the way God works. Even in creation he called people to multiply and subdue and rule the earth in order to put the finishing touches to His creation. Or think of the transformation that takes place in the Christian. It is a combination of personal choice, responsibility, and the grace and power of the Spirit of God (2dPet.1; Phil.2:12,13). Likewise, God calls mothers into a cooperative artistic endeavour. You will be especially appreciative of this when your enthusiasm and creativity run dry, and mothering seems like drudgery and an unwelcome and unenviable task. Or those times when you will be blamed for what you do not do, criticised for not being what it is thought that you should be. Or those inevitable moments when you will feel the insecurity, inadequacy, and frustration which often characterises parenthood, 'humanhood', and motherhood!
I think that it should be a given that as a mother you will know the taste of anxiety, fear, fatigue, failure, discouragement and dismay as you shoulder your God-given responsibilities. You are a mother, but not a magic genie, as is sometimes supposed. Those are the times that you need to come to the Grand Artist for help, guidance, support, inspiration, and wisdom. Don't make the mistake of trying to mother your children without God. God knows where your children need to be personally and spiritually, and he knows how to get them there, so keep close to him. Mothers, always keep in mind that you really do need the very sensitivity of God in order to mark your children with the beauty that ultimately only cooperative artistry with God can achieve.
You also need the sensitivity and help of God to ensure that you focus on what is important. Your artistry should be aimed at instilling courage, patience, love, cooperativeness, responsibility, wisdom, self-esteem and respect for others, a healthy morality, and above all a strong and growing Christian faith. These are the things which will make the difference in their lives - not how many electronic toys they have, or movies you take them to, or arguments you win or lose with them, or the clothes they wear, or their style of hair and preference in music. So keep close to God for he is the only one who can help you stay on target and be the artist he has made you to be.
Conclusion:
Being a mother is a God-given privilege. It is not a human invention. It is a journey into artistry with God. Be creative, be enthusiastic, and above all, be prayerful and intentional about things that count in their lives, so your children can become the masterpieces that you want them to be. Keep in mind one Mother's Prayer, and keep close to the Grand Artist along the way.
A Mother's Prayer:
I wash the dirt from little feet, and as I wash, I pray, "Lord, keep them ever pure and true to walk in the narrow way."
I wash the dirt from little hands, and earnestly I ask, "Lord, may they be ever yielded to do the humblest tasks for you."
I wash the dirt from little knees, and pray, "Lord, may they be the place where victories are won and orders sought from you."
I scrub the clothes that soil so soon and pray, 'Lord, may her dress, his pants throughout eternal ages be your robes of righteousness.'
Even though many hours pass, I know I'll wash these hands again, and there'll be dirt upon her dress, his pants, before the day shall end.
But as they journey on through life and learn of pain and want, Lord keep their precious little hearts cleansed from all sin and stain,
For soap and water cannot reach where you alone can see. Their hands and feet, these I can wash, but Lord, I trust their hearts to Thee.'And take time out to admire your masterpieces - that is one of the aims of art; to aesthetically please!
Blessings