Funeral Sermon. (A Precious Mother)

29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. KJV

Intro: Mother, the most powerful person on the planet. Mother holds the course of the family. She is the compass that always points to the man of God of the family, the husband and father. There is not a more secure place that Mother’s Lap held within the fortress of her arms wrapped around that broken heart. There is not a more comforting place to lay one’s head that the shoulder of, Mother nor a more soothing voice that the sound of Mother’s assuring words, “It’s okay baby, everything’s going to be alright.” There is nothing more powerful that the prayers of, Mother.

"Six hundred students at a university were asked to write on a piece of paper the most beautiful word in the English language. 422 wrote the word mother, 112 wrote the word home" (Roy Angell).

Power of a Mother’s Prayer: The following is a true story.

The year was 1820 and Peter Richley was a grateful man. He had survived one of the strangest and most harrowing events known to mankind. The ship which he had been traveling on sank. He was rescued. By some strange twist of circumstance, however, this ship sank.

He was rescued again. But, this third ship sank likewise. He was rescued for a third time. Yet, his fourth ship of passage soon sank. And unbelievably, he was rescued for a fourth time, but this fifth ship sank as well.

It would have been laughable had it not been so serious. On the high seas, however, he floated with the serene confidence that somehow God did not want him to die. And sure enough, as if on cue, another ship came by and answered his call for help.

This ocean liner, The City of Leeds, was named after its British city of origin. It was bound from England to Australia and traveled the same sea lane as Peter Richley’s downed ships. The crew of The City of Leeds hoisted Peter aboard. Dry clothing was provided to Peter. The ship’s doctor gave him a cursory exam, pronounced him fit, and then asked an unusual favor.

“There’s a lady on board who booked passage to Australia,” the doctor explained. “She’s looking for her son who disappeared years ago. She’s dying and she’s asking to see her son. She knows everybody on board and since you’re the only newcomer, would you pretend to be her son?”

Peter agreed. After all, his life had now been saved for the fifth time. He followed the doctor below deck and entered into a cabin. There on a small bed lay a frail woman with silvered-hair. She was obviously suffering from a very high fever. Deliriously, she was crying out. “Please God. Let me see my son before I die. I must see my son!”

The ship’s doctor gently pushed the young man toward the bed. Soon, however, Peter Richley began sobbing. For lying there on that bed was the reason that he couldn’t seem to die. Here was the lifeline that had kept him from drowning five times. For lying on that bed was none other than Sarah Richley—who had prayed for ten years to be reconciled to her son, Peter.

The ship’s doctor stood in amazement as the young man fell down by the bed and embraced the sick woman. “I’m here mom! I’m here. It’s me!” Within days the fever had subsided and his mother awakened to find an answered prayer seated on the edge of her bed.

(This story was told by western writer Louis L’Amour in an interview he gave. This story bears out the saying, “truth is stranger than fiction.” In researching the Louis L’Amour website there were additional references that bear out this story to be a true story.) Never, never, never underestimate the power of the prayers of a praying mother. A song written years ago, “If I could hear my Mother pray again,” is sure to rip the heart of the most brutish man.

Prov 31:16. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. KJV

Could it be considered that when a young woman becomes a bride she has dreams of becoming a wife to a God given husband? May we also imagine that she has conceived dreams of raising her children as gifts from God to be adorn with her love, strength and protection. Kind of like a missionary that looked forward toward a new frontier not knowing what the path may hold or what lurks over the next horizon not to speak of the next sun rise but willing to embrace its fortunes and overcome its distractions and conquer it’s potholes.