Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

© 2021, Dr. Tamilio

Jesus referred to God as Father.  Actually, the word he used was Abba, which, translated into English from the originally Aramaic is a more intimate word.  It is more akin to our word “Daddy” as opposed to “Father.”

Why do I bring this up on Mother’s Day?  Because the affectionate nature of the word Abba is far more feminine than the strong, masculine images that Father conjures.

Now, let’s be clear.  Personally, I do not think of God as male or female.  To me, God is pure Spirit, undefiled by the designations and all the baggage we associate with human gender.  I also do not care one iota if you as an individual Christian refer to God as Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, or anything else.  Honestly, whatever works for you is fine by me.  I have said this many times before and, on one occasion, was challenged by a former parishioner who said, “But the Bible says that man was made in the image of God!”  Yes, it does — and no, it doesn’t.  When it uses the term “man” it means “mankind,” as in people — all people.  If you have any doubt, then I invite you to pick up your Bible and turn to Genesis 1:27.  The text is very clear.  It reads:

So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

It doesn’t say that God made only biological males in his image.  It says “male and female.”  This means that either: a) God is male and female, or that b) being made in the image of God has to do with something other than gender.  I think it is the latter, but the Imago Dei is a sermon for another time.

My point here is simply that God encompasses everything that is male and female without being either one.  Either though I do not see God as male or female, God certainly has qualities of each.  In other words, God is very similar to a father and a mother.  Being Mother’s Day, it might be fun to think about this for a bit — to think of ways that God is like a mother to us.

In an article published just a few days ago, Roman Catholic priest, Father Paul Vuturo, wrote, “The annual Mother’s Day celebration touches our deepest emotions and sentiments about what real love is and should be.  If Christians can say ‘God is love,’ their first and most powerful experience of human love usually starts in the womb and continues in the arms of a mother.”[1]

There are many biblical passages that support the image of God as a mother.  For example, in Isaiah 66:13, the prophet writes, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.”  This isn’t Isaiah speaking.  This is Isaiah relaying the words of Yahweh to the Israelites exiled in Assyria.  Isaiah is saying that God loves them unconditionally and will comfort them, much the same way that a mother comforts a crying baby.

Then we have Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, who says, “’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (13:34).  The last time I checked, hens are female.  Only a total nitwit would think that Jesus is saying that he is a hen.  However, he is like a hen (or a mother) who goes looking for her lost and insolent children, bringing them home.

There is no escaping the maternal images that are employed in these passages.  Clearly, the writers wanted their readers to associate these qualities with God.  Think about it for a moment: when you think of mothers or the maternal, what images come to the forefront of your mind?  You probably think of birth, nurture, and care.  You probably think of a person you run to when you are in pain.  The toddler who reaches for her mother when she scrapes her leg.  The twenty-something whose heart has been broken by the love of his life picks up the phone to call mom.

This is not to say that God is not associated with masculine images.  Surely, he is.  God is a protector, mentor, and disciplinarian when need be.  The real point of this sermon is to say that there are masculine and feminine qualities to God.  We hear the former all the time.  On Mother’s Day, we can at least try to embrace the latter.

Some people say that they do not want to refer to God as Mother, because they had terrible, abusive mothers.  Well, the same can be said about fathers, can’t it?  In fact, there are people who call God Mother, because they had terrible fathers.  Calling God Mother or Father, however, is not to bring God down to the level of our earthly parents.  It is to say that God is the ideal father or the ideal mother.  God possesses the parental qualities that all mothers and fathers should have.

Let’s go back to Father Vuturo for a moment.  He writes, “Mother is an image of God, an icon of God’s presence, a window into God’s mystery, a tangible embrace of God’s gentleness.  God as a mother loves us into being and embraces us with Her kindness.”  God gives us life, births us as a mother does.  Father Vuturo also mentions how mothers give birth at great risk to themselves.  Of course, there is the danger we associate with childbirth itself, which is less of a concern than it used to be, but mother’s also conceive and deliver a living being that may reject her.  That is the risk of love, isn’t it: the possibility of it not being returned.

We could reflect on it all day and we would never cover it all.  We would simply be glimpsing into the infinite mystery that is God: the source of all life and love.

Call your mother today.  If she is no longer with us, call her through prayer.  Thank her for the gift of life.  Forgive her for her faults.  She is (or was) only human.

Again, comparing God to a mother or a father is not to bring God down to our level.  It is to use our limited human language to describe various qualities of God: the one who gave us life, who protects us, who nurtures us, and who loves us beyond compare.  God is the source and center of all being.  Call him (or her) Father, Mother, friend, savior, or lover of your soul.  God is all these things and so much more.  Don’t get too hung up on the words, but get hung up on God.  That is a good place to be on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and every day.  Amen.

[1] Taken from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, published May 4, 2021