{"id":1928,"date":"2024-05-21T22:39:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T03:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/progressivepersuasionandpassion\/?p=1928"},"modified":"2024-05-21T22:39:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T03:39:03","slug":"why-mothers-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/progressivepersuasionandpassion\/2024\/05\/why-mothers-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Mothers Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Happy Mother\u2019s Day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019m still thinking about Mother\u2019s Day. One day a year doesn\u2019t seem to be enough. Besides, Mother\u2019s Day doesn\u2019t have a day in the Christian calendar. Therefore, I honor mothers, but don\u2019t preach a Mother\u2019s Day sermon. Happy Mother\u2019s Day to Mother Eve to Mother Mary!<\/p>\n

If I did depart from the lectionary, God forbid, I would preach God is our Mother. My text would be Isaiah 65:5 \u2013 13<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Hear the word of the\u00a0Lord,
\nyou who tremble at his word:
\nYour own people who hate you
\nand reject you for my name\u2019s sake
\nhave said, \u201cLet the\u00a0Lord\u00a0be glorified,
\nso that we may see your joy,\u201d
\nbut it is they who shall be put to shame.<\/p>\n

6\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Listen, a roar from the city!
\nA voice from the temple!
\nThe voice of the\u00a0Lord,
\ndealing retribution to his enemies!<\/p>\n

7\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Before she was in labor
\nshe gave birth;
\nbefore her pain came upon her
\nshe delivered a son.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Who has heard of such a thing?
\nWho has seen such things?
\nShall a land be born in one day?
\nShall a nation be delivered in one moment?
\nYet as soon as Zion was in labor
\nshe delivered her children.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Shall I open the womb and not deliver?
\nsays the\u00a0Lord;
\nshall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb?
\nsays your God.<\/p>\n

10\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
\nall you who love her;
\nrejoice with her in joy,
\nall you who mourn over her\u2014
\n11\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>that you may nurse and be satisfied
\nfrom her consoling breast,
\nthat you may drink deeply with delight
\nfrom her glorious bosom.<\/p>\n

12\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For thus says the\u00a0Lord:
\nI will extend prosperity to her like a river
\nand the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream,
\nand you shall nurse and be carried on her arm
\nand bounced on her knees.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>As a mother comforts her child,
\nso I will comfort you;
\nyou shall be comforted in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Like a suffering mother God has always and continues to love us, to hold us in the everlasting arms of compassion and empathy. In our rebellions, God our Mother has taken us back again and again.<\/p>\n

The Bible fills with stories of women who turned the tide of history away from darkness, violence, war, and tribulation. Where would we be if God were not the Mother Hen gathering her brood beneath her sheltering wings?<\/p>\n

Let us get down on our knees and thank God for the powerful women of the Bible. The mothers in the genealogy of Jesus deserve a special blessing, Let us say, \u201cThank you Lord!\u201d for the powerful witness of Rahab \u2013 the first person to declare faith in God within the bounds of the Promised Land.<\/p>\n

Let us lift up Rachel \u2013 perhaps the most tragic and grief-stricken mother in Scripture. While giving birth to Benjamin, \u201cRachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is,\u00a0Bethlehem.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Nativity at Bethlehem**
**Photo by Ana Carolina Miliani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jeremiah 31:15<\/a> \u2013 \u201cA voice is heard in Ramah<\/strong>, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let us lift up Naomi<\/a> \u2013 the woman crushed by the sorrow of losing her husband and her sons, a woman so deep in the cup of grief she felt name-forsaken and asked to be called \u201cMara\u201d \u2013 meaning bitter. But Naomi recovered and aided Ruth in finding a husband to secure her future and the future of the line of Jesse, David, and Jesus.<\/p>\n

And let us dare not leave out Bathsheba, mother of Solomon and victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Israel\u2019s most powerful king.<\/p>\n

Out of professional habit, I can\u2019t totally leave out the lectionary reading from Acts 1:21-26<\/a>: The eleven are gathered to select someone to replace Judas. The primary qualification for being one of the 12, according to Luke: \u201cSo one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us\u2014one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on the qualification, it is not a man who was with Jesus the longest. Not Peter. Not Andrew. Not James or John. The person who was with Jesus the longest was Mary, his mother.<\/p>\n

Again, Happy Mother\u2019s Day again and again!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Yes, I\u2019m still thinking about Mother\u2019s Day. One day a year doesn\u2019t seem to be enough. Besides, Mother\u2019s Day doesn\u2019t have a day in the Christian calendar. Therefore, I honor mothers, but don\u2019t preach a Mother\u2019s Day sermon. Happy Mother\u2019s Day to Mother Eve to Mother Mary! If I did depart from the lectionary, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5186,"featured_media":1950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Mothers Matter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  Yes, I'm still thinking about Mother's Day. One day a year doesn't seem to be enough. 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