The Gospel in Motherhood

As disciples of Jesus, we're meant to meditate on the connections between the good news of Jesus and the lives we live every day.  We just celebrated Mothers Day on Sunday, and motherhood is one of the most fundamental realities there is, so I was drawn to meditate on the connections between the gospel of Jesus and motherhood.  Here are a few of the beautiful connections I can see:

Life as a Gift

When a wee little person is being developed in his/her mother's womb, life is granted by the kind hand of the Divine Knitter, and, at the same time, mommy offers physical support and nourishment.  This little child does not do a single thing to earn or deserve or accomplish his/her own life.  The child's life is a gift.  Others act, and life for this little one is the breathtaking result.

Think on it, your whole existence is a gift!  The very fact that you are sitting/standing/lying there reading these words at this moment proves that Someone wants you to exist in His universe.  Now go even further: if you have received new life as a disciple of Jesus, you are alive in God's kingdom as a result of the decisions and actions of others.  You couldn't have given yourself life.  You couldn't have initiated the process that led to your new birth.  You didn't convince God to send Jesus nor convince Jesus to come.  You are the recipient of a gift that was given to you, and you didn't have to contribute a single thing to it!  How kind our God is and how grateful we ought to be to Him!

Life Through Pain

 As wonderful as the process of pregnancy and delivery can be for a woman, it is universally understood that there will be severe physical discomfort and pain in the process.  The just but awful words of the Creator echo in delivery rooms everywhere: "I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children" (Genesis 3:16, NIV).  It is the delivery that is most painful, of course, but there is discomfort and pain along the forty week journey to get there, as well.  An aching back, swollen feet, 'morning sickness', and more accompany a woman along the way.  

What comes as a result of the pain, discomfort and suffering, though?  Life, family, joy, and an eternal addition to God's universe.  Is the pain, discomfort and suffering worth it?  For most mothers the answer is a resounding, 'Yes!'  Jesus, in concert with our Father in Heaven, would answer this question just as positively.  Does Jesus consider all of His suffering, humiliation, pain and agony worth the life that resulted?  Yes!  He is delighted by the lives that are reborn and renewed because of His heroic and loving sacrifice (remember the rejoicing He described when the coin, sheep and son were found?).  The Father is delighted that He chose to send His beloved Son to secure eternal life for all who believe.  Yes, it was and is His good pleasure.

Transformed by the Unseen One

Why does a pregnant woman change her diet, give up caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes, and certain beauty products and medicines?  Why does she read, talk and pray so much about the little person inside of her?  Why does she rearrange her schedule to make doctor visits?  Why does she willingly go on in a process that is changing her so much in mind, body and emotions?  She does it for her baby.  She's never seen this person!  Many women don't even have the benefit of an ultrasound and never once even see an image of their children until their born.  Consider how amazing it is that all of this change - a transformation really - is counted worthwhile for the sake of someone who is unseen.  A mother can accept that there is life in her without seeing the little one because the signs of life are clear.  

Disciples, we are going through a thorough transformation as we follow Jesus.  Our whole selves are being changed by Him and for Him.  Why do we willingly go through with this when we haven't seen Him?  Because we know He's real and alive and near to us.  We are convinced that, though He is unseen by our eyes of flesh, He is the most important person in our lives.  He is worth anything it takes to know Him and to become like Him.  We are being transformed by the Unseen One. 

Do you remember what Jesus said to His apostles after He had been raised from death and knew of their reluctance to believe that He was alive?

"Because you have seen me, you have believed;

blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 
(John 20:29)

 Also consider what the apostle Peter wrote (with some admiration, I think) about the disciples who had come to follow Jesus without meeting Him in the flesh:

^"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though

you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled

with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving

the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

(1 Peter 1:8-9)

 Birth is Just the Beginning

Moms are heroic when they carry and deliver their babies.  What a process!  A new life has come into the world, and it's a wonder.  Yet, the sobering truth is that this 40 (or so) week process is just the beginning of a life-long process.  Tragically, some mothers who carry and deliver their babies do not or feel they cannot continue to care for them, yet God has designed the process of motherhood to continue on.  The bringing of a new life into the world is a means to a much bigger end.  May it never be that a mother counts her calling fulfilled once her child is born and the cord is cut!

Isn't it so in the new life of a disciple?  We have been born again through the eternal and imperishable seed of God's truth (1 Peter 1:23), but once we're born again, we aren't left on our own.  No, the Father, Son and Spirit carry faithfully on with us because our God's ultimate purpose for us is not birth but maturity.

Likewise, when we are useful to God in the process of drawing people to Himself and giving them new birth through His word, aren't we also called to be useful to Him in carrying on with this 'newborn' so that they might become 'mature and complete, not lacking anything' (James 1:4).  Paul, who in so many ways was an evangelist/missionary, saw himself commissioned to do far more than just tell people the good news that could save them.  He was more than an announcer; he was a teacher and spiritual parent: 

"He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching

everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present

everyone fully mature in Christ."

(Colossians 1:28)

Moms are amazing.  Their love is a marvel.  Even so, they and their love are just glimpses and whispers of our heavenly Father and His love.  Consider today how wondrous the good news of Jesus really is.  No matter how familiar the truths of God's saving works might be, may they never become anything less than breathtaking and marvelous to us!  Amen.