We traditionally think of God as our Father, and rightly so, but there are many Scriptures which remind us that God is Spirit and is also described as being like a mother. Jesus himself said, ‘how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings’ (Matt 23:37) and in Isaiah, we are reminded that even if a mother could forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne (something that is very unlikely!), God will not forget us, for He has engraved us on the palms of His hands. (Is 49:15-16) This morning in our service, we were reminded through Scripture of how much God loves us (1 John 4:13-18) and through the gifts of the Spirit that we are a treasure to God, precious to Him and cherished by Him.
Many of us struggle to accept and believe in the love of God for us. We are all too aware of our faults and failings and very used to being rejected by people when we fail to live up to their expectations. God’s love for us is so vast. We were urged to savour, relish and delight in that love. Mothering Sunday is all about familial love; we too can enjoy the love of God as our parent, someone who loves us unconditionally and without rejection.