“How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Luke 13:34b)

"As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you." (Isaiah 66:13)

I recently had the privilege of listening to the Rev. Natalia Terfa preach about Jesus’ stated desire to gather Jerusalem’s children “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,” and our desire to resist being gathered there.

Pastor Natalia spoke movingly about watching live streams of two bald eagles named Jackie and Shadow in Big Bear Valley, California. She compared Jackie’s fierce, protective love of her brood to Jesus’ love for us, despite the fact that the foxes of the world are prowling.

“In a time when fear and deceit were synonymous with power, Jesus speaks something different," preached Natalia. "He inserts hope into the political climate of the day. He preaches a word of healing and protection to people who were anxious and so hungry to be heard and seen and cared for. Jesus preached to people who needed real hope.”

I love thinking about the mothering protection that God offers to us. Too often throughout the history of the Christian church, we’ve relied too strongly on male images of God, and ignored the rich array of female, maternal metaphors used in Scripture.

• "For a long time I have held my peace;
      I have kept still and restrained myself;
  now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
      I will gasp and pant." (Isaiah 42:14)
• "Can a woman forget her nursing child
      or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
  Even these might forget,
      yet I will not forget you." (Isaiah 49:15)
• "You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you;
      you forgot the God who gave you birth." (Deuteronomy 32:18)

These images aren't mere poetic devices—they reveal essential truths about God's character. The God who creates, nurtures, protects, and comforts embodies the qualities we associate with motherhood. In embracing these biblical metaphors, we gain a more complete understanding of our Creator.

Mother's Day is a Call for Peace and Justice

This Sunday we celebrate Mother’s Day. While Anna Jarvis famously campaigned for this observance in the early 1900s, the roots of Mother’s Day reach back decades earlier to Julia Ward Howe, author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Horrified by the carnage of the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War, Howe issued her "Mothers’ Day Proclamation" in 1870, calling on women to unite for peace:

"Arise, then, Christian women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience."

Howe envisioned a day that extended far beyond greeting cards and flower bouquets to demonstrate how power does not have to entail military might, violence, or fear.

God's Mothering Presence in Our World Today

We often see God's mothering presence in our world through the hands and hearts of women working to nurture not just their own families, but entire communities.

Research consistently shows that when women are empowered economically and socially, entire communities benefit. Child mortality decreases, education levels rise, and environmental stewardship improves. This isn't just good news for women—it's good news for everyone.

Consider these inspiring examples:

• In Tanzania, Esuvat Lukumay founded Eripoto for Girls and Women (Eripoto translates to “security” in Maa, the language of the Maasai) which provides safe housing for girls who left abusive family situations. Eripoto gives them safety and stability so they can stay in school and build the knowledge they need to thrive.

Esuvat (above in blue) started a preschool at Eripoto that serves both children of the young mothers who live in the safe house as well as others in their neighborhood.

• In the Central African Republic (CAR), the Rev. Rachel Doumbaye, then-vice president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in CAR, identified that basic, functional literacy would greatly help women in nearby communities. Together, we launched a program to provide those critical skills that empower women and girls.

Women leaders in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Central African Republic shared the need for women's literacy programs with LPGM.

• In the central highlands of Guatemala, Tara Cahill, co-founder of Community Cloud Forest Conservation (CCFC), empowers young women to plant trees, reforest their environment, diversify their incomes, and build more stable lives for their families and children.

Tara Cahill works hand-in-hand with local Q'eqchi' Maya women to alleviate poverty and protect forests.

Our Faithful Response

Today, we continue to bear the consequences of male-dominated definitions of power. Power that’s based in fear. Power that’s assumed to be a limited resource, so if others gain it, then I/we must lose it. Power that uses violence to maintain itself.

As Lutherans, we understand that power is stronger when shared. We believe that our faith compels us toward active love of neighbor, even when those neighbors are not like us.

Pastor Natalia preaches:

“Our culture is designed to make us think the fox will always win. Honestly, it feels like the fox is winning right now. It feels like this choice [between aligning with the fox and aligning with the mother hen] isn’t really a choice. Jesus longs to gather us in like a hen and we feel like, if this is a battle between a fox and a hen, the fox wins. Because we all understand how food chains work and a hen is not above a fox. We choose the way that aligns us with a fox because we feel like there isn’t another option.

“Jesus willingly puts himself between us and the danger that surrounds us. And in doing so offers fierce momma-bear, momma-chicken, momma-eagle (whatever you want to call it) protection and love. Again and again and again, until a new way is made. Because it is being made—today and tomorrow—until it is finished.”

A Prayer for Mother's Day

As we celebrate the mothers in our lives this Sunday, let us pray:

Nurturing God, we thank you for revealing yourself as one who births, feeds, and comforts your creation. We give thanks for those who have mothered us—those who gave us life and those who have nurtured our spirits. Strengthen mothers facing difficult circumstances around the world. Guide us to create communities and systems where all women can flourish, using their gifts to help build your kingdom. In the name of Christ, who gathers us as a mother hen gathers her chicks, Amen.

May this Mother's Day be an opportunity not just for celebration, but for renewed commitment to seeing and honoring the image of God in all people—and particularly in the mothers whose love reflects divine compassion in our world.

The Rev. Dan Ruth is executive director of Lutheran Partners in Global Ministry. Dan is passionate about helping people see where God is at work in the world. With experience in international development and nonprofit communications, Dan focuses on helping create the most meaningful outcomes or impact. He joined LPGM in 2017.