Parable of the loving mother
Photograph by Eye for Ebony via Unsplash
Rev. John Zehring
I think the most important parable Jesus told was the one known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. But the word “prodigal” is not in the Bible, and the parable is not really about the son, but about the father. It might be better titled the Parable of the Loving Father. This teaching answers the question “What is God really like?” Who would know better than the Son of God? Perhaps people thought of God as a Supreme Being who would judge them, punish them, or cause bad things happen to them. Do you not know people who wonder if God is trying to teach them a lesson or send them a message when bad things happen? Along comes the most credible source ever and he tells what God is really like. Let me tell you a story, he explained, to describe God’s true character.
In my case, God was more like my loving mother. That is not a problem – Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that “God is spirit…” (John 4:24) – and Spirit does not have gender. So, just for fun, I would like to reexamine the parable by changing only one thing: the pronouns. In this case, consider from Luke 15:11-32 the Parable of the Loving Mother (and the prodigal daughter who left home and squandered her mother’s inheritance).
One of the most important lines in the story is: “But when she came to herself, she said…I will arise and go to my mother” (Luke 15:17-18). That means the light bulb went off in her brain. She experienced a flash of insight. Do you wonder: Why did the parent of the prodigal child not go out to search to find her? Answer: it would not have done any good. The child had to learn for herself. The child needed to discover what was missing in her life and figure out what needed to be done. She came to herself. Every parent knows the child must do that. The child who comes to herself or himself will more likely return home for the right reasons and with the best motivation than one who is dragged home by the parent. God the parent knows that too, which is perhaps why when God may seem far away, God is waiting for you come to yourself. The loving parent is rooting for you, cheering you on, and longing for you to come to yourself, but the ball is in your court and until you come to yourself, God the Loving Parent can only wait and hope.
What a difference a pronoun can make. And yet, it makes no difference in the true meaning of the description of God. God is like a loving parent.
If this is the most important story in the Bible, next comes the most important verse in the story. It is a whole library full of theology packed into one verse. Here it is: “While the daughter was yet at a distance, her mother saw her and had compassion, and ran and embraced her and kissed her.” (Luke 15:20). Observe: In the most important teaching about God in the most important story in the Bible, what words are spoken? Not a word. The mother had compassion. This word compassion speaks volumes. She forgave. She gave her daughter undeserved grace. This daughter squandered a lot of money, a whole inheritance. People who do not own anything cannot appreciate how hard parents work to save what they have. This young woman blew it and yet her mother accepted her and loved her anyway. What did the mother say? What words did she speak? Nothing. She did not use words. She did not speak. There is no sentence coming out of the compassionate mother’s mouth. She did not ask for explanation, excuses, reasons, or an accounting. She did not bawl out or give advice. She did not threaten or punish. She did not grill about behavior, values, mistakes, or beliefs. She did not even give her daughter a chance to apologize. She did not talk. This is incredible. The Loving Mother did not speak! This is the hug heard round the world: her mother saw her and had compassion, and ran and embraced her and kissed her. That, by Jesus’ story, is what God is like.
Now, it is too bad the story does not end here. The mother’s hug would be the perfect ending. Enter the elder sister. The elder sister hears the welcome-home party for her sister. The celebration is already in full swing and the elder sister does not know what is going on. Nobody told her and she is not happy. Nobody likes to hear a sister having a good time with mom or dad and you were not invited to join in the fun. She feels excluded, uninvited, and less loved. The story says that the mother came out and entreated the daughter. Have you ever witnessed or experienced that sort of behavior where one child was upset, maybe jealous, and would not come in? So, what does the loving parent do? Goes out to that child – not to scold or reprimand, but to touch, to listen, to be tender, to understand, and to entreat the child to come back in. “My dear child…” says the Loving Parent. Could there be any clearer statement of the mother’s unlimited love for her older daughter? The younger daughter is not more loved. The Parent loves the older daughter just as much. She left the party and came out to find the elder daughter and to specially invite her to come in and be family. The story leaves us hanging without knowing the ending, but affirms that the nature and character of God is like a Loving Mother who runs out to the child and, without a word, hugs and welcomes the child back again, treating the child and her siblings as if they had never been away.
Theologians over the centuries have written volumes to describe the nature and character of God. Jesus, in a brief and simple story, described best of all what God is really like. What a difference a pronoun can make. And yet, it makes no difference in the true meaning of the description of God. God is like a loving parent.
Rev. John Zehring worked in higher education for a couple decades and then served United Church of Christ congregations as a pastor in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine. He is the author of dozens of books. His most recent book from Judson Press is “Get Your Church Ready to Grow: A Guide to Building Attendance and Participation.”
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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