Mother’s Day is a tough one for me. It’s tough for me (1) because I’m not a mom, and (2) because there just are not a lot of places in the Bible that speak directly about motherhood. We can find plenty of things in the Bible that speak directly to things like righteousness, holiness, love, forgiveness, compassion, truth, strength, God’s sovereignty, sin, and the list goes on. But what about motherhood?
Most of the Bible’s (not all) teaching on motherhood is subtle and rather indirect. That is, you have to read between the lines to get at them. In order to see the Bible’s teaching about motherhood, you have to pull back the curtain to see what’s happening behind the scenes. This, by the way, is not uncommon in the Bible. Jesus’ own teaching about himself and his own divinity was this way; always subtle, hinting, very little direct speech about it (with the divinity of Jesus, he was subtle in his teaching and his teaching about the kingdom of God because what he was saying was so radical and rebellious against the institutions of first-century Palestinian Judaism reigned over by Rome).
I think this is the case because so it is with motherhood. Moms are so often behind the scenes. They are the gentle currents that keep us moving forward. They are so central that we often take them for granted. They are such the rock that we stand on that we too often (and sadly) forget that all of life is dependent on them. Those on whom we depend so heavily go forgotten. They are self-effacing. They don’t ask for attention. They don’t ask for thanks. They are selfless. They don’t ask to the central…
and THAT is why they are life giving: because life comes from the other.
Note that Eve was the first mother. Eve’s name (which is Hebrew is pronounced “Chavah”) is the cousin to the Hebrew word for “life”. Without her there is no life. She is the source of life.
Have you ever notice the connect between motherhood and the Holy Spirit (and I’m not implying that the Holy Spirit is sexed, because he isn’t; he is supra sexual as God)? The main purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify another, namely, Jesus. The Spirit’s existence is to be self-effacing. To be behind the scenes and point the way to Jesus; to be the one who give life. The Spirit loses himself in another. He lives for the sake of the other. He lives for Jesus, he lives to glorify Jesus. He lives to constantly point away from himself.
So are mothers. Such is the difficulty with motherhood. It is selfless. It is life emptying and simultaneously life giving. It is that which all depend on for life.
Let us learn from our moms today. Let us learn from the ultimate example of those who live for others and thereby lose themselves and consequently find life.
Cheers to moms.
