Sunday, May 12, 2019 ~ Fourth Sunday of Easter

Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

 Sermon: “The Maternal God”

© 2019, Dr. Tamilio

As a preacher, sometimes you have a Lectionary text that speaks right to you — one that is ripe for the theme of the day, whether that theme is something on the church calendar, like Trinity Sunday or Palm Sunday, or whether it is something on the secular schedule: Independence Day or Veteran’s Day.  Today is the Third Sunday after Easter and it is also Mother’s Day.  None of the readings seem to fit the sacred or secular calendar.

The Gospel Lesson has nothing to do with Easter or the Easter season.  In it, Jesus says, “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.”  This is long before he was crucified, let alone raised from the dead.  This passage does go nicely with today’s Psalter reading, though: Psalm 23.  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  Many of us had to learn that Psalm by heart back in Sunday school, remember?  (I know I did.)  And then we have another passage from Revelation, the book we talked about at length last week.  This passage fits the other two, because Jesus is described as “the Lamb at the center of the throne [who] will be their shepherd.”  The “their” here means the people gathered about God’s throne.  And then last, but of course not least, we have a passage from the Book of Acts.  This is an interesting story: one in which the Apostle Peter revives a woman named Tabitha who had died.  We are told that this story became well-known in the region, causing many people to believe in the Lord.

So, happy Third Sunday of Easter and Happy Mother’s Day!  Nothing seems to fit.  So, I am going with something that combines today’s themes.  I want us to reflect on ways that God is like a mother.

Now don’t get nervous.  I’m not suggesting that we change the traditional language that we use for God.  I will continue to use He, Him, and Father.  The fact of the matter is, I do not see God as male or female.  Being made in the image of God (the Imago Dei) has nothing to do with gender.  After all, Genesis 1:27 reads,

So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them

male and female he created them.

As far as I’m concerned, people can use whatever language for God that they feel comfortable using.  That said, of you search the Scriptures carefully, you will see that there are both paternal and maternal images for God.  The Book of Deuteronomy uses one of the most maternal images for God that there is: “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.”  In the prophet Isaiah, we hear God declare, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”  In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus, who is God Incarnate, says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”  And of course, there are several others.  One could counter this and say that there are several paternal images for God in the Bible as well.  Yes, there are.  There are paternal and maternal images for God.  Today, however, we are focusing on the latter.

Another caveat.  There are some people who had mothers who were less than perfect, so some of what I am going to say may seem foreign to you.  This is the same reason why some people struggle imagining God as a Father, because some people had abusive or negligent fathers.

Dr. Bruce Riley Ashford writes the following: “A mother’s love is nurturing.  It causes a baby to grow and develop in a way it could not on its own, and is exhibited in nearly everything a mother does to help her little child — feeding him, rocking him, changing him, talking to him, smiling at him.”[1]  The nursing of a child, providing him (or her) with breast milk, is a scared image of the one who gave you life providing you with sustenance.

A mother’s love is self-giving.  There are many words for love in Greek (the language of the New Testament).  One of those words, which I’m sure you’ve heard before, is agape.  This is the type of love that God has for us, his creation.  This is very different from philo, which is platonic love.  It is also different from eros, which is romantic love.  Agape means self-giving love.  We’ve talked about this before.  This is the love that God has for us, which is similar (though superior) to the love that parents have for their children.  It is the love that says I would do anything for you and your well-being.  It is the love that gives life.

So, a mother’s love is nurturing, and it is self-giving.  It is also faithful.  There is a theme that runs throughout the Bible, particularly throughout the Old Testament: God seeks a loving, covenantal relationship, but we often reject God.  However, God remains faithful, claiming that if we confess our sin and turn back to God, God will forgive us.  Think about how many times you have disobeyed your mother, or how many times your kids have disobeyed you.  You don’t just throw in the towel and sell them to the circus, even though there may have been many a-time that you’ve wanted to.  Granted, there are some mothers who abandon their children and some who do not want a relationship with them, but I am not talking about the exception to the rule; I’m talking about the ideal, the experience of most.  No matter how far astray your kids happen to wander, you welcome them back.  I would go as far to say that even if your child committed some heinous crime and had to spend their life in prison for it, you’d still love them unconditionally.  Even though you feel they deserve to be in jail, your love for them wouldn’t change.  You may be disappointed, but you’d still love them.  You may even forgive them for what they did.

That’s the way God feels about us.  It is a maternal love.  Even if we reject God, God does not reject us.  God is “the hound of heaven,” as one poet wrote.  He will pursue us and love us with abandon.

Six years ago in an article in Time magazine, Yolanda Pierce, said, “I understand God as Mother because of all the mothers, aunties, grandmothers, ‘play’ mothers, godmothers, and church mothers who were made in the image of God and who embody God’s loving care.”[2]  I think this is why my wife always buys a second mother’s day present: one for her favorite aunt, who, although she does not have any children of her own, is like a second mother to Cindy.  You may have such a woman in your life.  Whether you do or don’t, God is that person.

Rejoice in the love that God (like a mother and a father) continues to shower upon you.  Amen.

[1] Bruce Riley Ashford, “Mother’s Day: God Loves You Like a Mother (Not Just as a Father),” May 12, 2017, Fox News online.

[2] Yolanda Pierce, “Why God Is a ‘Mother,’ Too,” May 11, 2013, Time magazine, online.