“Each
of you must show great respect for your mother and father,
and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest. I am the LORD your God.”
Leviticus 19:3 (NLT)
and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest. I am the LORD your God.”
Leviticus 19:3 (NLT)
Notice
Notice
two things about today’s passage.
First the writer connects the fourth and fifth of the Ten Commandments,
honoring father and mother and keeping the Sabbath.
Second, the author in a surprising counter cultural move places mother
before father.
Consider
Tomorrow
is Mother’s Day.
Reflect on the female images of God in the Bible.
Genesis
1:27 Women and Men created in
God’s image
“Humankind
was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them; female
and male, God made them."
Hosea
11:3-4 God described as a mother
God:
“Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I who took them up in my arms; but
they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness,
with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I
bent down to them and fed them.”
Hosea
13:8 God described as a mother bear
"Like
a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and tear them asunder. . . . ”
Deuteronomy
32:11-12 God described as a mother eagle
“Like the
eagle that stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young, God spreads wings
to catch you, and carries you on pinions.”
Deuteronomy
32:18 God who gives birth
“You
were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you
birth.”
Isaiah
66:13 God as a comforting mother
God:
“As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted
in Jerusalem.”
Isaiah
49:15 God compared to a nursing
mother
God:
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of
her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”
Isaiah
42:14 God as a woman in labor
God:
“For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept myself still and restrained
myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant.”
Jeremiah
44:25 Queen of Heaven
“Thus
says . . . .the God of Israel: You and your wives have accomplished in deeds
what you declared in words, ‘We are determined to . . . .
make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out libations to
her.’ By all means, keep your vows and make your libations!”
Psalm131:2
God as a Mother
“But
I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul
is like the weaned child that is with me.”
Psalm
123:2-3 God compared to a woman
“As
the eyes of a servant looks to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to you, YHWH, until you show us
your mercy!”
Matthew
23:37 and Luke 13:34 God as a Mother
Hen
Jesus:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who
are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a
hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
Luke
15:8-10 God as woman looking for her
lost coin
Jesus:
“Or what woman having ten silver coins, is she loses one of them, does not
light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she
has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, ‘Rejoice
with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you,
there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who
repents.”
How
will you honor God and your mother on Sunday?
Even if you perceive your mother as a negative in your life, nevertheless
there is something in her that stretched her beyond herself for your sake.
That was God loving you through her.
You can honor God by thanking Him and forgiving her.
Even better you can ask her (whether she’s still alive or not) for her
forgiveness of you for judging her.
Now that would be an incredible
Mother’s Day gift!!!!!
Prayer
“Lord,
thank you, thank you, thank you for this reminder!
It was always way, way, way too easy for me to take my mother for
granted, just as I have also found it way, way, way too easy to take you for
granted.
I am so sorry for that.
I both ask for your forgiveness and thank you for having granted me
forgiveness even before I asked (actually just like my mom, who loved and
forgave me before I ever asked – something I’ve learned about you, Lord,
through the mother you gave me)
Amen.”
For more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
No comments:
Post a Comment