Text: Proverbs 31:1-9
Topic: A look at the "other" Proverbs 31 woman

• Today, I'm going to preach a Mother's Day sermon, and some of you may be dreading it.
• One group says, "I'm tired of getting hammered on Mother's Day with impossible expectations. I'd like to be the ideal mom, but I'm too busy raising children!"
• A second group says, "I'm a woman without children. Mother's Day is hard for me. It's awkward because I feel like I don't fit."
• To women in both groups, I want to say, "Relax! I don't want to add to the pressure or pain that comes from being a mom or not being a mom. I want to encourage you from the Bible about the impact you can make on the next generation—your children, if you're a mom, or your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, students, or neighbor kids who live next door.

• Our text for today is Proverbs 31, and I want to talk about the "other" Proverbs 31 woman.
• According to verse 1, this lady is a mom—a queen whose son becomes king.
• We don't have a clue as to who Lemuel was, but we know that his mother has something important to teach us—the word "oracle" means a "burden" or "a heavy word."
• In verse 2, you see that she really wants her son to get this: "Listen, my son." Literally, she is saying, "What, my son"—perhaps in the sense of saying, "What are you doing, my son?"
• King Lemuel's mom says to him, "Don't use your power to serve yourself."
• In verse 3, the concern is that Lemuel will use his power to build a large harem, which will only create huge expenses for a king.
• The queen mother is also concerned about Lemuel abusing alcohol.
• Building large harems and abusing alcohol are possible ways of misusing power, and in both cases the pattern of behavior is self-destructive.
• Those who cope with the pressures of being king by drinking forget what they've decreed—which makes me think of Elah, king of Israel, who was getting drunk when Zimri, one of his officials, assassinated him (1 Kings 16:9-10).
• To dramatize her point against the abuse alcohol, the mom says this in verses 6-7: "Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more."
• She's using sarcasm to awaken Lemuel to the duties that go with his class and status, saying, "Don't use your power to serve yourself."
• In verses 8-9, she's ready to state positively the lesson that is driving her words to her son: "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."
• A mom who fears the Lord teaches her kids to use their strength to serve people in need.
  • Illustration: Mathewson shares how his wife has been the "other" Proverbs 31 kind of woman in regard to her relationship to their children, always teaching them to serve others.
  • Illustration: Mathewson also explores how a Proverbs 31 kind of woman is the reason former U.S. president Jimmy Carter has been so active in social work in his post-presidential life.

• When I read the words of King Lemuel's mom, I think about the greatest king who ever lived—a king whose kingdom was all about meeting the needs of the destitute, the widow, the orphan, the marginalized, and the poor. I'm referring to King Jesus, of course.
  • Luke 4:18-19
• Jesus was the kind of king King Lemuel's mother wanted Lemuel to be.
• Jesus also calls on all in his kingdom—those who call him their king—to live as he lived.
  • Luke 14:13
  • James 1:27
• How can we teach our kids to do this, and how can we do what our mother's teach us when we're so selfish, so enamored with the idea of using our strength to satisfy ourselves? Through the power of the gospel!
• When Jesus Christ paid the price for your sins in order to bring you to God, Scripture says that our Lord Jesus Christ, "though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."

• The relationship with God that he offers is a free gift of life—given to people like me and you who are lost without God in our lives. That's the gospel.
• Once you've responded to the gospel and accepted Christ, then you live out the gospel by using your strength to serve people in need.
• Moms, you don't have to be perfect. You don't have to be super moms to your kids. Just teach them what really matters: point them to Jesus, the one who was rich, yet for our sake became poor, and then teach them to follow Jesus' example, using their strength to serve people in need!