As I was preparing for this Sunday's sermon, my mind naturally went to Mother's Day. There is a lot of family imagery in the Bible. That imagery helps us to understand the nature of God's relationship to us and our relationships with one another. We have a heavenly father, we have brothers and sisters in Christ... where is the imagery of the mother? Consider this:
Christ is referred to multiple times as a groom. (Example... Luke 5:33-35)
We see prophecies that the "groom" of Christ is coming for his church. (Example... Rev 19:7)
The spirit calls us all children of God, and heirs, to a piece of the glory we see in the spirit of Christ. (Example... Romans 8:15-17)
From this, we can start drawing a pretty interesting conclusion about the church's motherly role in our lives. If we are children of God and Christ (as God) awaits his bride, the church, then this reasons that the church is... a form of mother.
This is more than just a pretty allusion; it actually has implications on who we are in our relationship with God. Consider what Paul says in Galatians when he talks about the "Jerusalem above", a metaphor for the universal church we are all a part of...
26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written, Rejoice, childless woman, unable to give birth. Burst into song and shout, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate woman will be many, more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband. 28 Now you too, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as then the child born as a result of the flesh persecuted the one born as a result of the Spirit, so also now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.” 31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave but of the free woman. (Galatians 4:26-31)
Paul highlights that we are no longer children of slavery to sin, but rather we are children of a church which has been set free. We are no longer born into slavery, but have been reborn into freedom. The church is intended to be a mother figure in the lives of many, giving them new life and the nurturing care that comes with growing in a new identity.
While this is a neat image of our freedom in Christ, I think the much bigger challenge is when we look at how we conduct ourselves as a church towards others. What image do we project as a church? Do we look like a mother who constantly nags and berates her children or like a mother who lovingly supports and encourages growth? Are we a mother who sits back and waits for her children to take care of themselves or do we try to surround our children with nurturing love? The children, in this image, are the people we are called to serve within and without the church walls. As individuals who, collectively, make up a church, we need to make sure we are being good "mothers" to all the children of God whom fate has brought into our lives.
A church has an opportunity and an obligation to raise children of light, be a bastion of compassion and nurturing, and to be the connective tissue which binds the family together. Let's challenge ourselves to be that caring, loving mother as a church so that the entire family and grow in our faith and be moved in our calling.
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