Sunday, May 10, 2026
Scripture: Exodus 2:1-10
Sermon Title: “The Mothers of Moses”
I want to recognize that today is a hard day for some and a joyous day for others, and maybe a mix of both for many of us. I am blessed that I not only do still have my mom, but all three of my grandmothers are still alive. And for those of you thinking, “3 grandmothers, how is that possible?” One is my mom’s stepmom who has been part of my mom’s life since she was a young child. I don’t call her my step grandma; she’s simply my grandma.
She had her own son from a previous marriage who my grandfather later adopted. I don’t call him my mom’s stepbrother or adopted brother. No, I call him my mom’s brother. I don’t call him my step Uncle, he’s simply my uncle Matt.
I’m guessing each of you have situations like this in your own families. People who aren’t necessarily biologically related to you but are still your family. On this Mother’s Day we remember that being a mother can take all shapes and forms. Biological, Adoptive, Step, godmother, spiritual mother, mentor, aunt, grandmother. And while sometimes that can seem like a new concept for us living in the 21st Century, we see this even in scripture as well.
I promise, it’s not a typo on the bulletin. It’s the “Mothers of Moses,” not “the mother of Moses.” I meant to add that extra “s” at the end of “mother.” You see, there are two Mothers in today’s scripture: Moses’s biological mother who gave birth to him and nursed him. And Moses’s adoptive Mother: Pharaoh’s daughter who rescued Moses from the water and raised him as her very own child.
In the Exodus story, Pharaoh is afraid of the Israelites rising up against him. And so he orders the Hebrew midwives Shriprah and Puah to kill the Hebrew boy babies. They lie and say that the babies are born too quickly before they even get there. Now we’re not sure if these women were biological mothers themselves, but they’re certainly mothers of the Hebrew People. They’re certainly mothers of Moses as well. Women who will stand up against the authorities and the government to do what is right in the eyes of God.
Moses’s biological mother hid him for three months. To hide a baby for three months, I can only assume that Moses was not a colicky baby. But when she could hide him no longer, she put him in a papyrus basket, coated it in tar and pitch, and put it among the reeds of the bank of the Nile. The word translated “basket” in today’s text could also mean “Ark.” Reminding us of Noah’s ark in Genesis. A boat saving the world from destruction.
Now this mother has made her own little ark for her baby, to save him from destruction since Pharaoh is ordering all male Hebrew babies to be thrown in the Nile. She technically follows his rules and throws him in the Nile, but she puts him in his very own little ark.
Think for this a moment. Can you imagine the fear of having your child killed that you think it’ssafer to put him in a basket along the Nile than to stay with you?
Early in the war in Ukraine, I remember watching a news story about a father who couldn’t leave Ukraine. The men were supposed to stay back and fight. And for some reason he wasn’t with the mother, so he took his child as far as he could to the border of Ukraine and Poland and gave his child to another mother with children, and wrote the mother’s name and number down so that they could contact the child’s mother once they crossed over where she was. Thankfully the story ended well with them being able to find the child’s mother. But I still couldn’t imagine the pain of the father, feeling that his child was safer with a stranger, escaping the country, than staying put with him.
For Moses’s mother, this is the same. She feels it is safer for her 3-month-old baby to be in a basket among the reeds of the Nile than to be in her care, for fear of Moses being killed by Pharaoh.
The sacrifices parents have made throughout history, and still today. Children are sometimes better off with a stranger than themselves for their own health and safety. But I love that Moses’s sister Miriam stands at a distance keeping an eye on her little brother. Miriam may not be a mother, but she’s certainly an important woman in this story.
Pharaoh’s daughter comes down to bathe and sees the basket, she has one of her female slaves open the basket and finds a baby crying. Pharaoh’s daughter realizes right away he must be one of the Hebrew babies. But thankfully she is not like her father, she has compassion on the crying baby.
Moses’s sister Miriam approaches Pharoah’s daughter and asks if she can take the baby back to a Hebrew woman to nurse him. Pharaoh’s daughter agrees and takes Moses back to his own mother to get paid by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse her own son for the next two years.
Moses comes to be Pharaoh’s daughter’s son and raised by her. She named him Moses because she drew him from the water. I love this passage of scripture because we see it filled with women. Two female midwives refusing to kill Hebrew babies. A woman trying to keep her son safe by putting him in a basket. An older sister keeping an eye on her younger brother. Another woman whose father is killing babies, and yet she doesn’t follow in her father’s footsteps, but she saves the Hebrew baby. A female slave of Pharoah’s daughter is even mentioned as well. Women are all over this story in Exodus, working on behalf of the Lord.
Similarly in the New Testament, we see women all around the cross. When most of Jesus’s male disciples have deserted him and are in hiding, women are gathered around the cross. Its women who are first at the empty tomb on Easter Morning. Its women who first shout the good news, “He is Risen!” Scripture has a history of using women for doing mighty things. And we celebrate that this Mother’s Day.
Moses will grow up to be the greatest leader of the Hebrew People, rescuing them from slavery in Egypt. But before Moses was a great leader, he was just a little baby, surrounded by bold, brave women trying to make sure he stayed safe. We have bold brave women in our congregation as well, we celebrated our female pastors in the congregation last week. But there are also bold, brave laywomen in this congregation as well. Who knows how many of you are helping others to grow up and be the next Moses, the next leader of their generation.
It is our calling to raise up bold leaders, followers of God, people who will do miraculous things for God’s Kingdom. It is our job to raise up children to do this whether they are our biological children or not.
In our Methodist History, our founder John Wesley, and his brother Charles Wesley who wrote most of our hymns get most of the attention. However, they also had a wonderful devout mother named Susanna Wesley. And much like Moses was shaped by his mothers and the women in his life, I’m not sure we’d have the Wesley brothers if it weren’t for the faith of Susanna Wesley.
When Jesse and I went on the Bishop’s trip to England a few years ago, I was blessed to learn more about Susanna Wesley. We visited Wesley’s childhood home and that’s the stop where we learned the most about Susanna Wesley. Susanna Wesley had 19 children. Can you even imagine? And sadly, nine of them died as infants. Susanna Wesley educated her children. Even her daughters. They all learned Latin and Greek and other classical studies common in England at the time. I read that the lack of diverse spiritual teaching caused Susanna to assemble her children Sunday afternoon for family services. They would sing a psalm and then Susanna would read a sermon from either her husband's or father's sermon file followed by another psalm. The local people began to ask if they could attend her Sunday School Class.
At one point there were over 200 people who would attend Susanna’s Sunday afternoon service while the Sunday morning service dwindled to nearly nothing. The power of a mother’s faith. I’m sure we have Susanna Wesley to thank for the Methodist denomination.
So many mothers in our faith. The mothers of Moses. Jesus’s very own mother Mary. And our Methodist founder’s mother Susanna Wesley. You all probably have mothers in the faith as well. Those who helped shape you into the person you are today.
In my own life, I can think of women who weren’t my actually mother, but were certainly mothers in my faith. When I went through confirmation, we were each assigned a mentor from the congregation. Mine was named Muriel. And we’d meet weekly, usually getting ice cream from Dairy Queen and going through my Confirmation Workbook together. She was certainly a mother in my faith. And I still keep in contact with her.
When I think of my youth group years, I also think of Tina. She was my youth pastor when I was in youth group. She was fresh out of seminary. She taught me so much about Jesus and encouraged me to go to the same seminary as her. She married Jesse and I, baptized Isla, and was at my ordination. We still keep in touch. She is certainly a mother in my faith.
My own mother I don’t think of as super religious, and yet even she prayed with me nightly as a young child, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.”
On Mother’s Day we celebrate all of these mothers. All the women who helped shape our life and faith whether they are our biological mothers or not.
Today is Mother’s Day and Mother’s Day can be a day of celebration for many. As I mentioned earlier, I am blessed that I still have my mom, and all of my grandmothers are still alive. I have two little girls and get to enjoy all the Mother’s Day crafts and gifts from school. This past Friday I got to go to Isla’s Mother’s Day Celebration as her school. And my favorite gift is when you receive those things where kids answer things about you. This year most of them were normal, but the funniest one was when it said “one thing my mom says a lot,” and Isla answered, “go to bed.”
If today is a day of celebration for you, if today is a day of joy for you, I celebrate with you. We as a church celebrate with you. We as the Body of Christ celebrate with you.
But we must also acknowledge that Mother’s Day can also be a difficult day. For those who have lost a mother, today is difficult. My husband Jesse’s mom has been gone 13 years, and Thursdaywould have been her 63rd birthday. And with her birthday being a few days before Mother’s Day, its been a difficult few days for Jesse. So please give him a hug. But not just hug him, give a hug to all the people you know who may be struggling today. Those of you who are grieving the loss of a mother today, we as the body of Christ grieve with you.
I also knew years of Mother’s Day being difficult as I struggled with infertility. Then I was finally pregnant, and I preached a Mother’s Day sermon where I talked about the joy of finally being pregnant, only to lose my first baby a week after Mother’s Day. For those who have lost a child of any age, or struggled to conceive a child, or are in the midst of infertility right now, today can be difficult as well. And if you are grieving that loss today, we as the body of Christ grieve with you.
For those who have a difficult relationship with their mother or a difficult relationship with their children, today can be a difficult day as well. And we grieve that with you.
On Mother’s Day, I like to celebrate all women, whether you are a biological mother or not. Moses had two mothers, a biological one, and an adoptive one. And he also had a wonderful older sister looking out for him as well. He had midwives who made a way for him as well.
I’m guessing many of us have had many mother figures, or strong women in our lives. Women watching over us, guiding us and leading us. Mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, teachers, mentors, and friends.
Jesus teaches us a little something about spiritual mothers when he was on the cross. When Jesus was dying on the cross, he spoke to his mother Mary, and the beloved disciple, most likely John.
When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” Scripture tells us, from that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
At the cross we see Jesus’s humanity. Jesus was a good son and wanted to make sure his mother had a son to take care of him after he was gone. Jesus was also a good friend, and he wanted to make sure his close friend had a mother as well.
You see, in the Kingdom of God, blood doesn’t matter. Or I should say our blood doesn’t matter. Only the blood of Jesus matters. Biology doesn’t matter. We are all to care for one another as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mothers, and fathers. Whether you are a biological mother or not, we are all called to be spiritual mothers and fathers to others in our faith, pointing others to God. Looking out for one another, caring for one another, and loving one another.
One of the hardest things for me since becoming a mother is that my mom and most of my family live in Ohio. And yet I have been amazed that in both my time as a pastor in Jacksonville, then Community UMC in Daytona Beach, and now here at Tomoka UMC, that people in thecongregation have come alongside us as spiritual mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, and uncles for us and our children. We have been blessed in all the congregations we’ve served withpeople giving our kids Christmas gifts, Easter Baskets, birthday gifts, Valentine’s Candy, you name it. Maybe a little too much candy.
While most of my family live over 1,000 miles away, we’re not lacking in the grandparent department because of the spiritual grandparents, aunts, and uncles in our churches. Thank you for that. It is truly such a blessing.
But that shouldn’t be the case for just the pastor. We should all look out and care for one another. That’s what it means to be a part of the Body of Christ. That’s what it means to be a part of the Household of God. We are to care for and love one another as if we are family. Because we are family. We are the family of God. I have loved hearing stories of you all being the body of Christ to one another. I have loved hearing stories of you all being the family of God to one another.
Whether it’s taking an elderly member out to lunch for her birthday, or taking someone a meal, or checking in on people when they have recently lost a spouse or driving someone to church who can’t drive themselves. This is being the Body of Christ.
Many of you are living into your calling to love and care for one another. I invite you on this Mother’s Day to pray about, who is God calling you to be a spiritual mother or father to? Who is God calling you to mentor in the faith? Is it someone here in the congregation or in your neighborhood? Maybe a friend of your child. Who is God calling you to treat as a spiritual son or daughter? Who is God calling you to care for as you would your own child? Pray that the Lord would show you who you can love and care for like your own child.
Like the mothers of Moses, we never know how our acts might be guiding and leading the next generation to do great things for the Kingdom of God. We might be raising up new bold leaders for the Kingdom of God.
Or on the other hand, are you like the disciple that Jesus called to take care of his mother? Who is God calling you to look after as your spiritual mother or father?
Is there someone older than you whose children don’t live close by and they maybe need help with things around their home? Maybe being driven places, running errands, or just someone to visit with them and chat? I invite you to pray and ask the Lord if there is someone that you can care for like you would a mother or father? Aunt or uncle? Grandfather or grandmother in the faith?
Mother’s Day in it itself is not a Christian Holiday. It became a National Holiday in 1914 under Woodrow Wilson. And while it’s not necessarily a Christian Holiday, there is something very Christian about showing gratitude toward our mother and all mothers. After all, one of the 10 commandments is Honor your mother and father. Honoring parents is a sacred endeavor.
On this Mother’s Day, I invite us all to tell the mothers and all women in our life how thankful we are for all that they do and have done for us. I invite us to spend time in prayer thanking the Lord for the mothers and women in our lives who have helped shape us into the people we are today. As you reflect on your own life, who are the mothers in your life like Moses had? Who are the older sisters like Moses’s sister Miriam, who helped protect you, guide you, and shape you? Thank them if they are here and thank the Lord for them if they are no longer here on earth. Thank the Lord for the gift of women in your life who have shaped you.
Let us all reflect this morning how we can be spiritual mothers and fathers in the faith. How can we help to raise up new generations of bold and brilliant leaders? How can we nurture others in their faith? How can we love and care for those younger than us?
Also, how can we care for those older than us. How can we honor others in our church, our neighborhood, our community as mothers and fathers in the faith?
Let us thank the mothers in our life, whether biological or not. Let us thank the Lord for the gift of mothers, whether biological or not. And let us be a mother or father to someone in need of a mother or father. And let us be a daughter or son to those in need of a child. Let us live out our calling to be the Body of Christ. Let us love one another as Christ first loved us. Let us care and love for one another as if we are truly family. Because we are. We are the family of God. We are the household of God.
Amen