Like a Mother in Israel

Having biological children is the least of what makes a woman a mother! This Mother's Day sermon uses the Old Testament judge Deborah as a model for what it means to be a mother. I hope that you've had many mothers like Deborah in your life!

What do you think of when you hear the word “mother”? It’s a good question to ask yourself on this Mother’s Day. What image does the word “mother” conjure up?

I’m sure that some of you think of a mother like June Cleaver. (She was the mother on the 1950’s TV show Leave It to Beaver, for those of you who may not be old enough to remember it.) Despite raising two active boys, June always wore a fashionable dress accented with a pearl necklace. She was never tired or cranky; she always had a hot meal ready at the end of the day; and she always saw right through the flattery of teenager Eddie Haskall. If you don’t remember June Cleaver, you might remember Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch or Olivia Walton, the mother of the clan on The Waltons. They were all women who fit this traditional image of a mother.

But if we turn to the book of Judges, we will find another kind of mother. Her name is Deborah; and she is more comfortable in army fatigues than in a pearl necklace. In fact, she led the Israelite army into battle! And she was a mother? Yes, indeed – the text calls her a mother. But she is a very different kind of mother than June Cleaver. Let’s take a look at Judges 4-5 and meet Deborah up close and personal.

We first see her sitting under a palm tree. She sits there so often, in fact, that the tree is named for her: “Deborah’s palm.” When we meet her, she appears to be a judge in the traditional sense of the word. The text tells us that “the Israelites came up to her for judgment.” But just one verse later, she trades her judge’s robe and gavel for a helmet and bayonet. She calls a man named Barak and gives him instructions from God. He is to go to war, war against Sisera, the general of King Jabin’s army – the same King Jabin who has been oppressing Israel for 20 years. She even instructs him in the military tactics that he should use. Sisera will be lured into an ambush by the Wadi Kishon where Barak and his troops will be victorious over them! After reassuring Barak that she will go along as God’s representative, he does indeed go to war. The result is a complete victory for the Israelites! “All the army of Sisera fell by the sword,” says the text. “Not one was left.”

Deborah certainly doesn’t fit the traditional image of a mother, does she? We think of mothers as “sugar and spice and everything nice.” But they aren’t always, not according to the epic poem in chapter 5 of Judges. That poem calls Deborah “a mother in Israel.” And it’s not because she had children of her own. She had a husband named Lappidoth; but Judges never mentions that Deborah had any children at all. So how can Judges call her a mother? Deborah was a mother not to her biological children, but to a whole country. She cared for Israel the way that the best mothers care for their children. She watched out for them. She helpd its people get along peacefully. And when they were threatened with harm, she led them into war. What was the image that Sarah Palin used during her vice-presidential campaign? She acted like a mother grizzly bear! Yes, that was Deborah, all right!

Not all mothers have children. Deborah is the model for women like that – women who become mothers to more than just their immediate families. Down through history, women have embraced whole groups of people who are in need, and have intervened on their behalf.

Sometimes women have worked quietly behind the scenes. That was what Clara Barton did. She mothered wounded soldiers during the American Civil War, distributing provisions, cleaning field hospitals, applying dressings, and serving food to wounded soldiers on the front lines. Her life was frequently in danger. On one occasion, a bullet tore through the sleeve of her dress and killed a man to whom she was tending. Not content with working only with the wounded of the Civil War, she founded the American Red Cross which responds quickly to humanitarian crises around the world.

Other women have used the political process to further the cause of those they cared about. Susan B. Anthony comes to mind. She worked tirelessly for the rights of women, especially the right to vote. With her good friend and co-worker Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she founded the American Equal Rights Association and the National Woman Suffrage Association. In 1878, she introduced the Anthony Amendment into Congress, which, if ratified, would have granted women the right to vote. In 1920, it became the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

And some women, like Deborah, have even gone to war to protect their people. Joan of Arc is probably the most famous example. She lived in France during the 1400’s. After seeing visions telling her to free France from English domination, she went into battle with the French. You all know the consequences. She was captured and burned at the stake as a traitor and heretic by the English.

None of these women were married. None had biological children. Their children were the people they loved and worked to protect. And isn’t that what a mother is called to do? They are mothers in the fullest sense of the word!

Now, we all have biological mothers. Some of them are still living, while others have gone ahead of us into glory. And I’m willing to bet that all of us had mothers like Deborah, too. Oh, they may not have worn armor and gone into battle! But they stood by us and helped us and believed in us when we didn’t even believe in ourselves. They are our mothers, too. Who are your mothers?

Maybe one of your mothers was a teacher who encouraged you to reach for the stars. She gave you extra help after school, suggested activities that you might be interested in, and told you over and over how much potential you had. Oh, yes, she was a mother to you.

Or maybe you had a Den Mother or a Girl Scout leader. She took your scout troop on camping trips; and while the hobo stew was simmering over the campfire, she taught you to sing “Kumbaya” and “Home on the Range.” She wasn’t paid to do that. She did it because she cared about you.

And there are millions of other women all around the world who act as mothers even though they may not have any children of their own. They are camp counselors and Sunday school teachers, tutors and social workers, mentors and advisers. One of them might be your next-door neighbor.

One of them might even be you!

They come in all shapes and sizes, all colors and religions, all countries and all social groups. But they share one thing in common: all of them are blessings sent from God. Like Deborah, they act on God’s behalf, ministering to those who are in need all around the world. Those needs are many. Men are thrown into prison every day simply because of their political opinions. Women are denied proper medical care because they are considered to be second class citizens. Boys are forced to work in sweatshops of the Far East for pennies a day. Girls are sold to be unwilling wives, prostitutes, or even slaves. And wherever there are needs like these, brave women will become mothers, working on behalf of others with courage and love. So on this Mother’s Day, let’s not limit our thanks to only our biological mothers. Let’s honor brave women everywhere who rise up like Deborah, a mother in Israel, and become mothers to all those they hold in their hearts!