In Sunday's lection from John 17, Jesus knows that Golgotha was hours away. He knows that his followers will be like sheep without a shepherd. He knows that he cannot protect them anymore. Jesus knows. And so he commits them to God. The God who is like a mother in the gospel. The God with a womb.
The church is the community that Jesus committed to God. It is not a building. Never has been, never will be. The church is people who love, like Jesus did. Those who love unconditionally. Like Jesus's mother in John. Like our mothers.
Like God-with-a-Womb.
This is why we have hope despite all the pain, the suffering, the greed, the indifference, and the evil around us. This is why we believe that a new world is possible. There are those who love unconditionally. There are those who are willing to offer their lives for others.
Like our mothers.
*art, "Madonna " by Catlett, Elizabeth, 1915-2012 (available at the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives).
