Jesus: shepherd and mother

Easter 4, Year C

This day in Easter season is known as Good Shepherd Day. The collect and Bible readings assigned recall Jesus’ role as the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Jesus came to search for and recover lost sheep. Jesus laid down his life to protect the sheep. Jesus, by his death and resurrection, opened the gate of God’s pasture for the sheep. Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus made told Peter that loving God required him, requires us, to tend and care for the sheep. Pope Francis called clergy shepherds and said faithful clergy smelled like sheep.

A shepherd’s work is similar what mother’s do. Shepherds and mothers feed. Shepherds and mothers protect. Shepherds and mothers tend. Dame Julian of Norwich, a nun who died in the year 1417, wrote about God and the joys and struggles of believing. Though she had little formal education, the church recognizes Julian as a theologian and made her a saint. The Episcopal Church placed her feast day close to Mother’s day. Julian emphasized the nurturing and sustaining love of God, using maternal imagery in her books Divine Revelations and Shows.

Our high Father almighty God, ...by the foreseeing endless counsel of all the blessed Trinity, willed that the second Person (Jesus) should become our Mother, our Brother, and our Savior. Whereof it follows that as truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother. Our Father wills, our Mother works,...the Holy Ghost confirms. Showings, chapter 59

Julian proclaimed God as “the true Mother of life and of all.” God, the Creator, labors to bring us into the world. Jesus, the Savior, feeds us in the sacrament of Communion. The Holy Spirit moves across the face of the earth sustaining us and the world we live in. One cannot help but notice the striking resemblance between the ways God works and the roles assigned to mothers. Julian wrote:

The kind, loving mother who is aware and knows the need of her child protects the child most tenderly as the nature and state of motherhood wills....This nurturing of the child with all that is fair and g o o d , o u r L o rd d o e s m o t h e r i n g o t h e r s . ” J u l i a n o f Norwich Revelations of Divine Love, translated by Fr. John-Julian, OJN in article by Margaret Ellsworth https://www.growchristians.org/author/margaret-ellsworth/

Julian proclaimed God as Mother. As Mother, God understands the joys and challenges of mothers. As Mother, God is able to equip mothers. Julian’s observations were and remain outside the main stream of Christian thought. Being on the margin does not make her theology any less important. Church history, tradition and the Bible contain many more references to male leaders, masculine imagery, and male norms. This means effort is required to restore the balance God established in creation. In the created order, God made the presence and contributions of females as necessary and important as males. When we put in the effort to shift our attention from the center to the margins, we find lots women. In addition to the Mary, Jesus’ mother, there are many other women in the Greek or New Testament Scriptures: Mary Magdalene; Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; Martha and Mary of Bethany; Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Lydia, fabric merchant; Priscilla, who lead a house church with her husband Aquila; Phoebe, referred to as a deacon; and Junia, who was said to be prominent among the apostles. These, and other females, whose names do not appear in the Bible, were hosts, benefactors, influencers, and leaders in the early Christian community. Dorcas is referenced in the lesson from the Book of Acts read today. Her work and charity were so essential to the residents of Joppa, the Christian community sent messengers to Peter demanding he come immediately to Joppa to heal her after she fell ill and died.

Our denomination affirmed the value of female believers and the need for their contributions by changing the constitution and canons in 1973 to allow women to serve as Wardens. In 1976 the church again affirmed the need for women’s contributions by ordaining female priests. In 1988 The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts elected Barbara Harris as suffragan bishop, making her the first female bishop in the world wide Anglican Communion. Barbara invited all the African American women clergy and lay leaders to lunch on the eve of her consecration. After the 20 of us finished eating and laughing (Bishop Harris had a sharp tongue and quick wit), we prayed with her. We prayed for her safety in the face of death threats. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to empower the church to raise up more disciples. We prayed for her to be a good shepherd. Some 8000 people gathered in the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts for her consecration. Today 30 of the 140 bishops in The Episcopal Church are female. The Episcopal Church is making steady progress toward recognizing and honoring the place and value of women. We must make the effort necessary to shift our focus from the center to the margins. We must recognize and value the contributions of women both in the church and in daily life. When we take for granted those who work at the margins caring for children, frail elderly people, sick, mentally ill, unhoused, prisoners, and neuro-a-typical people, we forget that loving God requires us to feed, protect, and tend the sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and is Mother. God our Mother: labors to give us life; nourishes us Communion; and moves across the face of the earth sustaining us and the world we live in. On this day when the church remembers Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who tends and cares for us. I pray this Mother’s Day motivates us to thank God for the women and men who nurtured us. I also pray this Mother’s Day motivates you to renew your commitment to love and serve others as God, our Mother, loves and serves.

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Expanding the scope of love

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Open the eyes of our faith.