Mother's Day and Father's Day

Last week, I alluded to holidays in which I must “tread lightly” and I address two additional holidays today: Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I have preached at least one “Father’s Day” type sermon while I was interning at First Reformed in Sully IA centering on the Father in the Prodigal son, who of course represents our heavenly father and it was “God, thank you for fathers who…” I do not think that I have even preached a “Mother’s Day” sermon.  These two holidays are another occasion where we need to season things with a little pastoral salt. I must pay careful attention to additional circumstances.

Why do I feel this way? What could I be thinking? You may think, Pastor Mike, I do not see anything wrong with these types of sermons and I wish you would preach them. Well, I have a few reasons that I would like to share with you from some from personal thoughts, others from friends, family members and other pastors.

1.      Once again, our focus should always be on God. We certainly should be thankful for our mothers, fathers and those who have formed us, but to honor them over Christ is not something that we should do. I do not want to be redundant, but in lieu of last week’s blog, it seems like it is.

2.      We should be sensitive to those who are silently suffering. Miscarriage. Infertility. These words are taboo in the church despite the fact that is present in the Bible. These issues are incredibly real and cut close to the heart causing pain and anguish for many. Chances are members of our congregation are afflicted by or know someone who is afflicted by infertility. We do not always talk about it. Couples may not want everyone to hear that story and thus they keep it concealed from everyone. We may have someone mourning the loss of a parent recently or may be mourning/lamenting that “I will not be a father/mother”. This may make Mother’s/Father’s Day a really hard day for them as they may be “wishing” for something different or “lamenting” their current situation.

3.      How might someone who had broken/poor/non-existent relationships with their parents receive these sermons? I am blessed in my life to be born into a situation where my parents were married, supportive, and caring (and they still are). However, as sin and brokenness continues to alter the lives of our families, we begin to see a plethora of family situations. We have single-parent families, divorced families, re-marriages, children living in foster situations. Some of those children do not have a positive relationship with a father or a mother. There may be pain, there may be bitterness, there may be hurt. For them to hear a sermon honoring fathers may not be incredibly helpful.

For these reasons, I think we need to be careful in potentially “topic-focused” subjects on these days. The Bible certainly should be our guide in following God as parents, children, spouses, etc. and change our lives. Nevertheless, we do not need to use a specific day for it.

What are your thoughts about “Mother’s Day” and “Father’s Day” Sermons?  Please leave a comment and chime in!