Sermon Snippet – Am I a Failure? Part II
INTRODUCTION – Last week, we considered Elijah’s overwhelming sense of failure, learning from God’s Word that the numbers are always against us but that God cares about even one. I know that many Christian women struggle with similar feelings of failure. On this Mother’s Day (one of the few things that our culture gets right), let us think further about this troubling, even traumatic, subject. All of us, female and male, can be strengthened by the following Biblical examples.
1. EVE
We all know about the real failure of Adam and Eve. They rebelled against God and His compassionate restriction upon them (Genesis 3). Justice meant chastening, but it did not mean abandonment: God promised a Messiah, a Savior. Eve demonstrated faith in God by believing this specific promise. In fact, she trusted so fully in God’s words that she thought that her firstborn was the fulfillment of prophecy, that he was the One (“Cain” means “I have the man, the Lord”). Clearly, Cain was not the Messiah (Genesis 4:1-8). Was Eve responsible for Cain’s fratricide? No, for she (and Adam, as well) had taught differently, as Abel’s faith demonstrates (and Seth’s faith later on, as well). What sorrow Eve endured! Yet, she never fled from the faith. Her persistence is a powerful model for all believers.
2. MARY
The mother of Jesus was a deeply spiritual woman (Luke 1:26-56; 2:1-52). She and Joseph raised all of the children who came later in the same manner – steadily and faithfully. However, none of Jesus’ siblings followed Jesus until after His Resurrection. In fact, they thought that He was mentally disturbed (Mark 3:20-21 – “friends” is literally “family”). Was Mary a failure as a mother? No. The difficult truth of Christianity is that each individual must make a personal choice regarding the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Each person needs Him as Savior. Mary consistently lived by faith and set an exemplary example for all of her children. Yet, for years, they all chose not to follow her godly lead. Finally, they repented (and Joseph, who had died, did not live long enough to see this transformation). The sadness that Mary felt at the Cross was swept away by the Resurrection and by God’s longsuffering with her other children. Her consistency over many years in a desert of unbelief is an encouragement to us today.
3. LOIS AND EUNICE
The grandmother and the mother of Timothy were believers and influenced Timothy to follow Jesus (II Timothy 1:5). He became a missionary and a pastor. Did these ladies feel as though they had failed? No, not with Timothy, but what is left unsaid here is that their husbands were not Christians. Certainly Paul would have mentioned them if they had been believers and had set good examples for Timothy. The Apostle Paul rightly commends these women for their faith, with no caveats.
CONCLUSION – Let us close with one simple thought = faith is not failure. Faith is never failure.