Scripture is full of people who have taken a risk for God. In
Exodus 1, we read of the Hebrew midwives who spared the lives of male Hebrew
baby boys. We read of Hannah in Samuel and Esther in, well, the book of Esther.
We read of Deborah, the judge, Mary Magdalene, who was the first to meet the
resurrected Jesus. Lydia, the mother of Timothy. But in the 2 biblical passages (Exodus 2, Luke 2:33-35) I believe we have two of the most remarkable women in history. Both these women
have helped shape the world as we know it. Both women were mothers to sons who
would forever change the world.
Jochebed was the name of the woman who gave birth to Moses
and then in a twist of fate became his nanny. Mary was the name of the young
Jewish girl who took the risk of believing God and becoming the mother of the saviour
of the world: Jesus. I don’t think I need to mention what impact both men had
on history.
We know more about Mary than we do about Jochebed. History
has been much kinder to mother of Jesus than to the mother of Moses but looking
at both women we see two ladies who took amazing risks and whose courage saved
the world. Imagine how history would be different should Moses’ mother not
taken the risk of putting Moses into the basket or if Mary had not accepted the
miracle growing in her. How hard was it for both women knowing they were
looking after children that weren’t really their own in a number of ways. For Jochebed,
while Moses was hers, she had to raise him as if he was an Egyptian Prince.
Mary had a son, whom she conceived but I think she understood that in reality
she was raising a son who wasn’t hers. But both loved them as only a mother
could.
Traditionally, Christianity has always seen God as a male
figure but in the last 30 or so years (with the rise of feminism) the concept
of Mother God has gained a certain amount of credence in many circles. I’m not
particularly keen on the idea of Mother God for a number of reasons, primarily
because it has too much in common with the Mother Earth Religions of Paganism
and New Age philosophies. But there is no doubt that God has feminine
qualities. The Bible is full of feminine images for God. The term El-Shaddai is possibly derived from the Hebrew word from breast and is translated as the more common "mountain" hence God the Mountain. But the Scriptures talk of God as a mother, as a
midwife, as a provider and the list goes on and on.
But before I confuse everyone and make everyone think I’m a crackpot
loony I want everyone to understand that my understanding of the love of God is
through my Mother. And so seeing God as having feminine qualities sits quite
easily with me. My father died just before my fourth birthday. I have the odd
memory of a man who was kind and gentle but other than the single photo I have
of him and the stories from my mother and family I have no recollection of my
biological father. I have had to work hard on the idea of God as Father. Books
like “The Father heart of God” may as well be written in a foreign language
because I do not have the reference points of a Father. It was my mother who
raised me as a single mom and so I relate better to the female of usGod than I
do the male.
And so my mother has something in common with both Mary and
Jochebed. Church history tells us that Jesus’ earthly father Joseph died fairly
early in the life of Jesus. We have Biblical record of Moses father but I have
little doubt that he didn’t have a lot to do with Moses and so more than likely
Moses didn’t know his father. All these women worked tirelessly against some
extremely challenging circumstances. My mom raising two boys on her own, Mary
looking after a rather substantial family on her own and Jochebed raising her
own son as someone else’s.
My mother would say she was taking a risk moving away from
her family to ensure that she could get a job to raise us. I think my mother would
be mortified if she heard me put her in the same category as Mary and Jochebed,
but I think I see in all these women people who have the characteristic of a
God who is willing to risk everything for us. Most women would consider their
love for their children as the most natural thing in the world but I think
loving children is an extremely risky thing to do because there are no guarantees
that they will love us back and so mothers show possibly the greatest
characteristic of God: the ability to love so deeply it hurts and to love so
freely they would die for their children because mothers like God are willing
to risk it all for their children.
Amen
