We don’t celebrate Mother’s Day at Resurrection Assembly of God in Iowa City. In fact, we made a decision early on in the revitalization process in 2016 not to celebrate any non-Christian holidays at all. For being such a small church, there were an incredible number of women who had been unable to conceive, or had experienced the pain of miscarriages. Rather than hedging a celebration of motherhood, we decided to simply do away with the issue. We also didn’t want to navigate military celebrations, national independence, or any other holiday that simply doesn’t have any biblical basis. So, it was a simple and obvious thing for us to do.
To be clear, we weren’t saying there’s something wrong with expressing gratitude for mothers and countries. We just knew we could do and be everything a church is supposed to do and be without pagan holidays.
And yet—the Bible is full of mothers. More specifically, it’s full of mothers who found it difficult or impossible to conceive. Mother Mary, the most blessed of the women in the Bible, comes to mind first, since she wasn’t trying to conceive at all. But she comes in a long line of women in the Bible who needed God’s miraculous intervention to conceive: Sarah, Hannah, and Elizabeth.
I’ve pastored in multiple churches now, and in every single one there have been multiple women who have asked me to pray that they might be able to conceive. This is not something I anticipated going into vocational ministry. And it has seemed disproportionately common compared to other issues—though I have no objective standard against which to measure my experience. Regardless, I’ve prayed for a lot of babies, and I count that an incredible privilege.
God has answered my prayers. Just recently, a baby was born for whom I had prayed for a matter of years. Two nights ago I was sitting on my back porch at dusk reflecting on this. As I listened to the electric hum of Iowan cicadas, I was myself buzzing with joy that this baby had been born.
I also know women for whom I’ve prayed that have yet to conceive. And some—due to their age—would need God to do for them what he did for Sarah.
At Resurrection Assembly, we’ve been careful to respect and defend the God-given integrity and inviolability of the nuclear family. But we’ve at the same time told every woman and every man that they are charged with being a mother and father to every child in the church. This happens every time we dedicate a baby. Dedication for denominations that don’t do infant baptism is nevertheless a promise to baptize. We ask the whole church to promise to lead the dedicated child to the waters of baptism. There, God will declare for all to hear that the child is his beloved with whom he is well-pleased.
What I’m saying is, God sometimes puts a child in a woman’s womb that doctors said could not welcome one. But God always puts children in his hospitable womb called the church. And all of us, biologically fertile or not, are daily being given miracle babies in baptism all across the world. Every Sunday in the church is Mother’s Day.
Next time you hear a cicada, think about that.
The church is Mary: Young and virginal, yet conceiving by the power of the Holy Spirit many sons and daughters for the kingdom.
The church is Elizabeth: Babies bounce by the Spirit in her womb.
The church is Hannah: Weeping at the temple where God’s priest always says, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition.”
The church is Sarah: Old, and the mother of sand and stars.
Finally, I’m still praying for some women who want a child (or more) of their own. Join me. And if you by chance are heartbroken because God has not given you a gift in your womb, I’m happy to add you to my prayers.