The Motherly Character of God

Now we easily speak of God the Father, and readily confess that most fathers are poor reflections of that fatherly nature of God. In the light of Jesus' claim of Lordship in your life, I raise a question this morning to mothers: Are you an effective reflection of the motherly character of God? I see I have your attention now! No, I am not calling God she or Mother God or anything of the sort. I am calling your attention to motherly attributes of the character of God that we say little about.

This was not always the case. The motherly attributes of God were a strong theme in the writings of the Church fathers and the medieval churchmen. We find it in the works of Augustine, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Anselm and others. One scholar, Richard Stauffer, has pointed out recently that Martin Luther's favorite image of Christ was that of the mother hen protecting her chicks. But even more important than the way these great Christian thinkers saw the character of God is what the Bible teaches us of the motherly character of God.

In Genesis 1:27 we are told that God made man in His image, and that male and female made He man. Which is simply saying that both men and women are made in the image of God, and that the unique positive qualities of women are qualities of the character of God as well as the manly qualities we readily attribute to God.

What are some of the positive qualities of motherhood? I think immediately of security. The door slams as junior charges in after school, and the echo of the door is his yell, "Mom!" He wouldn't say, "I need to know you're here for my security," but that's what's going on. Did you lose any days out of your childhood because of the temporary absence of your mother? I still remember the week my mother was in the hospital for surgery; everything seemed strange and different and out of kilter; I felt lost. Mothers mean security.

Mothers also bring healing to the family. One of my favorite images of my wife through the years is that of the way she was so often hugging our children and wiping the tears from a skinned knee and kissing it, saying, "That's all right; it will get better before you get married."

Mothers not only bring security and healing to the family; they bring a sense of belief in the child. There is a book in my library, purchased thirty-five years ago, whose dedication has always reminded me of my mother; it is a little book by Frank Mead, and the inscription says: To Mother who, thru the hard years, smiled and stood fast while others smiled and turned away. Godly mothers are like that. Mothers almost always have the middle name of sacrifice. From the journey into the dark valley with the possibility of no return on behalf of a little one, to nursing in illnesses, to taking in washing to pay college costs; mothers sacrifice for their children, and do it gladly. It seems mothers are always giving; pouring their lives into the children.