God is Like Your Mother is Like God

A Mother is nurturing, protective, has a special bond to her children, is responsible for their well-being, has a desire to teach, train, educate and see her children grow up prepared for life. A mother is willing to endure great pain for them, take the hits for them, shelter them, and push them. A mother will never forget her children, she loves them, and has great compassion, patience and forgiveness for them. In all these ways, a mother is like God.

Is there any greater compliment to motherhood than the numerous times in the Bible that God compares Himself to Moms? When He really wants us to understand certain important things about His character—He says He’s like a mother. A mother bird, a mother bear, even a human mother.  

God is our Father but He compares Himself to a mother. He is our Father and our King. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, our brother, . When Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit, He said,

“I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send HIM to you.” (John 16:7)

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, All masculine. All male. 

And yet, over and over throughout the Bible, God compares Himself to a mother so we can understand some deeper things about Him.

I think this is important. We learn more about who God is and how He treats us as His children. We also learn what it looks like to be a good mother, and how all of us should  take care of each other, how everyone in the church should treat each other.

This Mother’s Day edition of the NewChurch sermon should be fun for all of us.

Moms all over the world have been put under more pressure than usual with this quarantine, stay at home thing. Schools aren’t in session so everyone is suddenly a home-school mom, including most of us dads. A bunch of us have even started wearing jean jumpers and making our own soap. 

By the way, I got that last joke from a friend who is a home-school mom. She said, “Hope it gets lots of laughs.” I’m like, “How will I ever know? Online services.”

I didn’t even know what a jean jumper was. Ha

I do know all the moms are being put to the test. I’m not just talking about algebra and calculus. All those normal things that are usually a little stressful to the parent/child relationship have been turned up way past eleven. Bedtime, wake up time, chores, dishes, clutter, backtalk, and general levels of respect and “honor thy mother” have escalated to the “let me talk to the manager” level like almost every day. We’re just not sure who the manager is supposed to be.

I saw someone the other day talking about how they’ve suddenly become their kid’s personal assistant. “Let's see, You have a Zoom meeting at 10 am and another at 1:30. Lunch will be a turkey sandwich, would you like that in your room?” 

I heard another person talking about how the quarantine has turned them into a jerk-mom. Snapping at their kids, impatient. They wish they could be rocking it like some COVID supermom—dance parties in the living room, nature walks in the park, baking, bike riding. 

But then when that doesn’t happen...

All the guilt feelings, inadequacy, shame and overall sense of failure is just crushing. I mean, as a parent, there’s always a little of that going on. But this Corona lock-down is making all of those things so much more intense.

A mother is a lot of things, but she’s never going to be perfect. She’s never going to be God. You need to cut yourself some slack, mom. There is plenty of grace for you, too.

Today is Mother’s Day. It’s a day when we honor our mothers, or the memory of our mothers. Whether or not they were particularly honorable. Makes no difference. The honor we give them isn’t for them. It’s part of how we worship God. It’s really for us. “So that things will go well for us” in these new lives that God has given us in Jesus. That’s why Mother’s Day is for everyone, not just for moms, or for people who still have their moms. Show your mom honor in the way you think about her, the way you treat her and talk to her, and the way you remember her and talk about her.

God apparently has a really high view of motherhood. He compares Himself to mothers all the time in the Bible. 

He’s particularly fond of the way a mother bird shelters her young under her wings. He must have been really proud of that idea when He created it. It is rather beautiful. 

In Ruth 2:12 He says we take refuge under His wings. In Psalm 17:8 it says He protects us and hides us

“in the shadow of His wings.”

I love that phrase, “the shadow of your wings.”

In Psalm 57:1 He says He keeps us there until

“the danger passes by.”

In Psalm 91:4 He says He will

“Cover you with His feathers and shelter you with His wings.”

Then Jesus, when He was talking about how sad He was that the people of Jerusalem had rejected Him, He said

“how often I have wanted to gather you children together as hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” [Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34]

So God protects and shelters us from all kinds of dangers and threats in this life. A godly mother does the same thing for her children. 

But that’s not the only image, God compares Himself with a mother bird, He also talks about the mother eagle. In Deuteronomy 34:11 it says,

“As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings.”

An eagle will build her nest in the tallest trees above the forest canopy or on the side of cliffs. The nests are huge, weighing close to a thousand pounds. When the baby eagles are almost ready to fly, the mother will toss them out of the nest, hover over them as they fall, then at the last possible second, she will spread her wings and rescue her child before it smashes on the rocks. How’s that for an image of God that’ll stick in your mind?

That’s what our loving God does to His children. To us. I know you always suspected it. There’s the chapter and verse.

God knows what we’re capable of, long before we do. He shoves us out of the nest plunging to what seems like our doom. But He’s right there. Just above us. Just where we can’t see Him, just out of reach. Ready to rescue us in the nick of time.

Mom, you gotta throw them out of the nest. And you gotta rescue them over and over until they get the hang of flying. The same thing God has done for you time after time. They’re never going to grow strong and independent while they’re safe inside that thousand pound nest of comfort you made for them.

My wife’s nickname is Kimmy Behr. That’s what her family calls her. Her maiden name was Behrent, which in the old country was Von Behren—which means “Little Baron” and the family crest has the image of a bear scratching a tree to show its power. Yes, we named our daughter Von Behr because of this. Kim also went to SMSU in Missouri and the school mascot was, you guessed it, a bear. Over the years, she has collected quite a few bear thing-a-ma-bobs. 

Everyone knows you don’t mess with a mamma bear’s cubs. They are thought to be the most ferocious and protective of all the animals. Not everyone knows the idea comes from the Bible and is a reference to how fierce God gets when His people turn their back on Him. God says He is “Like a bear whose cubs have been taken away,” He says,  “I will tear out your heart.” The maternal side of God isn’t all warmth and hallmark cards. 

I think this is also where my mom got the whole, “I brought you into this world and I can take you out.” 

Let me say it again, “Honor your mother, that it might go well with you and your life might be long.” 

God also compares Himself to a human mother. Mom, it’s kind of a big deal when God compares Himself to you. 

First of all, He says when He wants to get our attention and call us back to Him, He will

“Cry and groan like a woman in labor… leveling the mountains and hills.” [Isaiah 42:14]

That seems about right to me, if I remember the way it sounded when my mom would yell for me to come home—or get up for school in the morning. 

Kids, when your mom yells at you, she’s being godly. If she’s doing it right, it’ll kill the grass and level the mountains, too. Gotta get your attention somehow.

God also says that He will comfort His children like a human mother. He will nurse us, carry us in His arms, hold us on His lap. He will comfort His children like a mother comforts her child. [Isaiah 66:12-13]

But probably the most beautiful image He gives us in comparing Himself to a human mother is when He answers the question, “God, have You deserted me? Have You forgotten me?” He knew we were going to feel that way sometimes. So He says this,

“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! [Isaiah 49:15–16] 

God have you forgotten about me? I’m plunging to my death here! I can’t see you. I feel alone and afraid. Where are you?

And He says, “I will never forget you. I’m right here, ready to swoop in at the last minute and rescue you.” “Can a mother forget her nursing child?” Probably not. But even if she does, I will never forget you.” 

I don’t know about you, but that last line reminded me of when Jesus was on the cross. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” As Jesus was plunging to His death.

But He was also plunging toward His resurrection. So are you. You can be assured in the strongest way possible that God has not forgotten you.

God wants us to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that He is a forgiving, loving, nurturing God. That He is protective, has a special bond to His children, is responsible for our well-being, has a desire to teach us, train us, educate us and see us grow up prepared for life. God has shown us that He is willing to endure great pain for us, take the hits for us, and shelter us—atone and cover us to save us from our sin and failure. He will push us but He will never forget us or abandon us.

These are some of the ways that God is like a mother. These are some of the ways that a mother is supposed to be like God. But these are also some of the ways we’re all supposed to understand how to treat each other.

Because the church is the mother of us all. The church is our mom.

John Calvin said this, “"There is no other way to enter into life unless this mother (the church) conceives us in her womb, gives us birth, [and] nourishes us at her breast....[A]way from her bosom one cannot hope for any forgiveness of sins or any salvation."

So, first of all, honor your mother the church. Don’t run away from home like a stupid punk. You’ll end up lost.

Second, the church is the people of God in Christ. You and me are the church. This means that all these things I’ve talked about today about mothers applies to all of us. We’re supposed to protect each other, push each other, show compassion and forgive each other like a mother. 

On this Mother’s Day, if you’re lucky enough to still have your mom with you, then let her know how special she is. Almighty God compares Himself to her so that you can understand how He loves you. If, like me, your mom isn’t here anymore, then honor her by giving thanks to God for her. She wasn’t perfect, she might not have been particularly honorable, but find a way to honor her today anyway.

In the beginning, Adam named his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all who live. Adam is a picture of Christ, who is called the Second Adam. Eve is a picture of the church, who is called the Bride of Christ. On this Mother’s Day, let’s embrace our role as the bringers of life, the light and hope of the world. The nurturers and protectors of truth. We are the church, the mother of all the living. 

One last thing. It’s pretty easy to get discouraged. To think we’re not enough. Not loving enough, not protective enough. That we’ve failed our children and our parents and each other. That we’ve failed God. And it’s true, we have.

But there’s grace. You are forgiven. You are loved. So dearly loved. Under the shadow of His wing. With the ferocity of a mamma bear. With the protection of a mother eagle. God has promised that He has forgotten your sins and removed them from you as far as the east is from the west—but He will never forget you. Believe this in the name of Jesus.

Happy Mother’s Day. AMEN

****

P.S. Okay, this is a little embarrassing but I have to tell you anyway. After the sermon was written and recorded, I was looking for images to go with it. I wanted to find a photo of a mother eagle swooping down to rescue her young one. I couldn’t find one. Apparently because eagles don’t really do that. I kept finding things like this:

“Ornithologists have observed eagles coaxing, even taunting, their young from the nest, rather than just giving them a shove. When the fledgling eagle is almost ready to fly, parents have been observed to swoop by the nest with a fresh kill. Instead of landing in the nest as usual to share the meal, the parent lands near the nest and eats in plain view of its squawking, hungry teenager. This behavior continues until the fledgling is hungry enough to venture out of the nest, at which point the parent will share its food. This taunting behavior creates the appetite and incentive necessary for the fledgling to venture out of the nest on its own.”

So there you go. That’s what they usually do. It still makes the same point but the nudging out of the nest is a little more gentle. When it comes to how God treats us, I think that’s actually good news for all of us.

I’ve probably heard 50 preachers over the years use the illustration of an eagle throwing their eaglet out of the nest and catching them. But in these days of so much false information, I wanted you guys to know that I do my best to stick to the truth. Let’s sing about the unshakable truths of our faith.