Sermon: The Womb of God—Healing the Orphaned Soul - A Sermon for Mother's Day, 2026

Scripture Focus: John 14:15-21; Acts 17:22-31

I. The Opening: A Lesson in Fractions

Happy Mother’s Day! While I was in the younger grades, I once I had a teacher asking me a math question: "Suppose your mother baked a pie for your family – there were six of you, your parents and your three sisters. What part of the pie would you get?" I quickly answered, "A fifth." The teacher shook her head and said, "I’m afraid you don’t know your fractions. Remember, there are six of you." I replied, "Yes, teacher, but you don’t know my mother. She’d be the one saying she didn't want any pie."

That kind of self-giving love is what we celebrate today. It’s a love that creates a space where others can flourish—a space that, quite literally, begins in the womb. St. Paul reminds us that in God, "we live and move and have our being." We first experience existence within the womb of our mothers; in the same way, we live our entire spiritual lives within the "womb" of God’s abiding presence, where we are constantly nourished, protected, and known.

II. The Context: The Primal Fear of the Orphan

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.”

I find this one of the most poignant and hopeful verses in all the Scriptures. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is in the Upper Room, preparing the disciples for His departure. He uses the term "orphaned" to describe the very real fear of being left without guidance, without a name, and without a home.

We must acknowledge that Mother’s Day can be a day of mixed emotions—celebration for some, but also grief for those who feel "orphaned" by loss or distant relationships. Whether we are mourning a parent who has passed or navigating the "orphaned" feeling of a fractured family, Jesus’ promise is an enduring one: He is coming to us in the presence of the Holy Spirit. This isn't a temporary visit; it’s an abiding presence that ensures we are never truly alone.

III. The IFS Lens: Healing the Internal Orphan

Last week, we explored Internal Family Systems (IFS)—the idea that our internal world is a family of "parts." We have "Managers" who keep us organized and "Firefighters" who react to pain. But we also have "Exiled" parts—the young, wounded versions of ourselves that feel abandoned or "orphaned" by past hurts. They carry the memories of when we were lonely or rejected.

When Jesus says, "I will not leave you orphaned," He is speaking to these internal exiles. He promises the Paraclete—the Nurturing Advocate. In IFS terms, the Holy Spirit acts as the ultimate "Self" presence: a calm, compassionate core that doesn't judge our orphaned parts but sits with them. Just as a mother advocates for her child's needs and growth, the Spirit of Truth works within us to guide, comfort, and re-parent those parts of us that still feel lost.

IV. The "Mansion" Metaphor: Breaking the Walls

Think of this internal orphan like a child standing outside a grand, warm mansion in the dead of winter. The child believes they are an outcast, surviving only by their own wits, building thick walls of "Manager" logic to keep out the cold. They believe they are locked out of the house of love.

Healing begins the moment that child realizes they aren't standing in the snow looking in—they are already sitting by the hearth, wrapped in a blanket. They were just too dissociated by their own fear to feel the warmth. The Holy Spirit is the one who gently taps that child on the shoulder and says, "Look around. You’ve been home the whole time."

There is a famous scene in the film Good Will Hunting that illustrates this beautifully. Will, a brilliant but deeply wounded foster child, has spent his life "orphaned" by abuse. His therapist, Sean, repeatedly says to him, "It’s not your fault". At first, Will’s "Protector" parts fight back with jokes and anger. But as the words are repeated, the "Exiled" orphan within him finally breaks through the wall. He stops fighting to stay "outside" and collapses into an embrace. He finally realizes that the security he was looking for was right there in front of him.

V. The Divine Womb and the "Oceanic Feeling"

Sigmund Freud famously talked about a universal human longing to return to the security of the womb—what he called the "oceanic feeling." He described it as a sense of a seamless bond with the universe, where the boundaries between the self and the world disappear. While Freud viewed this as a psychological curiosity, St. Paul looked at it through a spiritual lens. When Paul preached to the Athenians, he pointed out that we are "God’s offspring."

If we are to think of when we literally live and move and have our being in someone, we think of the womb. It is the only place where we are totally dependent and totally provided for before we even have a name. We grow in the Spirit, developing our spiritual senses. We rely on God our Mother for nourishment and protection and love.

What does this "Oceanic Feeling" look like in our everyday lives? It’s found in the moments where our "Manager" parts finally take a break and let us simply be.

·       It is that split second of awe standing before a sunset where you realize you are a part of the beauty, not just an observer.

·       It’s the peace that washes over you during a long hug from a trusted friend, or perhaps your mother, where the "orphaned" parts of you stop shouting about what you need to do next.

·       It is the "flow state" where time stops, and you feel a quiet sense of "rightness" in the world.

These are not accidents; they are "womb moments." We are the child in the womb, growing entirely because of a heartbeat we didn't create but can finally hear.

VI. Love as Our Core Nature

Knowing this, when Jesus tells us that it is in following His command to love that we are abiding in Him, we shouldn’t hear it as a heavy demand. Jesus isn’t a stern general barking orders. Rather, Jesus is reminding us that we are being most truly ourselves—we are "Self-led"—when we receive and give love.

At the centre of the universe is the Divine Communion: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unified in the bond of love. When we love, we are reflecting the image of our Creator. It is not a burden; it is a liberating invitation to be who we truly are!

VII. Prayerful Reflection

I’d like us to take a few moments to shift gears and take a prayerful, reflective approach to this good news. Prayer opens our spiritual senses to the enfolding love of God that holds us safe. Wherever you are, if it is possible, I’d like you to be quiet, perhaps closing your eyes, as I lead us through these reflections:

·       The Spirit of Truth: Again today, Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit, whom He calls the Spirit of Truth. This is the Spirit who reveals to me the truth of who I am—a child of God within whom God lives. I hold within myself a spark of the Divine. Sit quietly with this thought in the presence of God.

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·       The Internal Shift: How does this knowledge make you feel about yourself—and specifically about those "orphaned" or "exiled" parts of you? How does it affect your relationships, knowing that within everyone else is that same spark of the Divine?

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·       Dialogue: Take a moment to talk to Jesus about these things. Tell Him about where you feel alone, and listen for His promise: "I will not leave you orphaned."

Amen.