Four W's Of Motherhood

SERMON: WAITING, WORKING, WONDERFUL WOMEN

Mother's Day sermons are among the most difficult of all for me to prepare and deliver. The reasons are several .... like, what can I say that hasn't been said, before?

Or ... what can I say, when somewhere in the congregation there is almost always one or two who's mother wasn't all that great?

Or ... what can I say to those women who, due to life's circumstances, never got to BE a mother?

Or ... how can I present a sermon that isn't dripping with lachrymosity ... aha! Got you with that one, didn't I! That simply means weepy eyed, crying, gushing with sentimentality, and so forth.

So, what I hope to do this morning is to present a few of the mothers of the Bible who can teach us a a thing or two. Not teaching us how to raise our kids, necessarily, because most of us have done that, already, but teaching us lessons of life that never go out of style.

If you were preparing this sermon, you might choose different mothers than I have chosen for a brief spotlight this morning, but that is okay. If you think of other ones, it's just a double blessing for you!

I will say that these do not appear in any particular order. I didn't go from first to last, by any means.

The first concept to highlight this morning is that of waiting. The Scripture tells us to wait, many times .... in fact, in the KJV, it is used 154 times. In THE MESSAGE version, it is used 176 times. And, if I were to ask you which mother in the Bible best exemplifies the characteristic of waiting, you might choose a different one.

The one I have chosen is Sarah, the wife of Abraham. Waiting. How does she demonstrate the characteristic of waiting? Let's read a bit of her story from Genesis 18.

God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.

He said, “Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I’ll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I’ll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path.”

They said, “Certainly. Go ahead.”

Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, “Hurry. Get three cups of our best flour; knead it and make bread.”

Then Abraham ran to the cattle pen and picked out a nice plump calf and gave it to the servant who lost no time getting it ready. Then he got curds and milk, brought them with the calf that had been roasted, set the meal before the men, and stood there under the tree while they ate.

The men said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He said, “In the tent.”

One of them said, “I’m coming back about this time next year. When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was listening at the tent opening, just behind the man.

Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. She was 89, and Abraham was 99. Sarah laughed within herself, “An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?”

God said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh saying, ‘Me? Have a baby? An old woman like me?’ Is anything too hard for God? I’ll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby.”

Okay, ladies! Look at your age .... well, all of you but Krista ... can you in ANY POSSIBLE WAY imagine yourself having a child this time next year? But yet ... God had said it ... and so ... Sarah probably lived the longest year of her life, as she thought about what was happening. Now, it is obvious, isn't it, that she knew several months before the child was born, that a child was on the way. It's pretty hard for a woman NOT to know, especially the last few months of the pregnancy.

I have a friend who's wife had a child, gaining only 12 pounds, and never wore a maternity dress. No one else knew she was preggers, but she sure did.

But the wait ... how does that translate into a lesson for us, today, whether you are a woman, or a man?

Now, do not miss this ... it is very significant! Sarah had not been waiting only a few months ... she had been waiting, let's say from age 15 ... to age 90 ... to have a child. That is 75 YEARS .... she waited for her child Isaac, to be born.