The Sacrifice of Motherhood
1 Samuel 1
Introduction: No one deserves a special day all to herself more than today’s Mom. A cartoon showed a psychologist talking to his patient: “Let’s see,” he said, “‘You spend 50 percent of your energy on your job, 50 percent on your husband and 50 percent on your children. I think I see your problem”. Without a doubt, we men and children depend much more on our wives and mothers than we perhaps realize. When God created the female of the species, she was a special creation indeed. Today, I want us to consider a woman of the Bible who had a strong desire to become a mother. Despite the pain, pressures or problems it might cause her, this lady desired with all her heart to take on that great sacrifice that’s motherhood. In light of our text, I want us to consider three points about motherhood.
I. Mothers have a tremendous influence upon their children’s lives for great good or ill. The English philosopher John Locke once said: "Parents wonder why the streams are bitter when they themselves have poisoned the fountain." But what if the fountain were full of true faith and prayer? Do you think we’d then have homes that have lost their love, churches that have lost their power, and a world that’s lost it’s mind? If we only realized the powerful effect our words and deeds produce in our children, I believe that we’d behave very differently. The Joy Luck Club, is a powerful film about some Chinese mothers and daughters who immigrated to this country over the past few decades. One insight you gain from watching this poignant movie is the powerful and almost mystic connection that exists between mother and daughter from generation to generation. The movie is a series of vignettes of several women and their relationships with their mothers. In some of the stories, mothers make tremendous sacrifices for their children, so that their daughters might have a better life than they. In other cases, mothers through selfishness have made serious mistakes that impacted their daughter’s lives in a negative way for decades. But in every case, for good or ill, each mother had an influence on her daughter that neither daughter nor mother fully understood. That brings us to the second point.
II. Motherhood’s a vocation. Not every woman is meant to be a mother any more than every man is meant to be a father. Just because a person can have children, doesn’t mean they should. Just because people are biologically equipped to become parents doesn’t mean they are psychologically or spiritually equipped. Motherhood’s a vocation. I use that word "vocation" in its Latin sense "voce" which means "to call, or "select." It’s a high calling, and there’s no more important vocation for women and men than that of nurturing children. However, today the vocation of Motherhood’s fallen on hard times. The role of Motherhood has been castigated, criticized and denigrated. Many women today have become almost apologetic about choosing motherhood as a sole vocation. This is even more true for men who choose fatherhood as their sole vocation (but that’s another sermon.) Motherhood in too many quarters, is looked upon more as a burden than a joy, and children are seen more as encumbrances to a career than as the precious gifts of God they truly are. This hasn’t always been the case. In our scripture reading this morning from 1 Samuel, we encounter a woman, who more than anything, wanted to have children. There was just one problem. She couldn’t. She was barren. And because she was childless she was sorrowful. Our scripture reading tells us that she was bitter in soul. To make matters even worse, she was being ridiculed by her rival. It’s bad enough to endure a tragic set of circumstances, but when you at the same time are being ridiculed for it, it becomes unbearable. Hannah was out of hope. She didn’t know what to do. So she did the only thing she felt she had left. She prayed to God. And guess what? God heard her prayer. God granted her request and she conceived and bore a child. She named him "Samuel" because the name sounds similar to the Hebrew word that means "asked of God." Now what I want you to notice about her prayer is not the fact that God answered it. That’s not so remarkable. But what’s remarkable is the vow she makes. What’s the one thing Hannah wants more than anything? What’s the one thing she vows to give up to God if her prayer’s heard? Now there’s nothing unusual about vows. I hear vows made all the time. People promising God that if God will spare their life, then they’ll go to church every Sunday, or become a priest, or a missionary or something else. And about 99% of these vows are never kept. It’s easy to vow to give up something you don’t have. But the remarkable thing about this story is that Hannah follows through with her vow. And that brings us to the last point I want to make about motherhood.
III. Mothers make great sacrifices for the good of their children. In our story this morning, Hannah sacrificed to God the one thing she most wanted: a son. And because of her sacrifice, Israel received a great blessing. Her son, Samuel became one of the greatest prophets of Israel, who was a maker of kings and who anointed Saul and the greatest king of Israel, David. Samuel would never have become the great prophet he was without Hannah’s great sacrifice. I believe the same thing can be said about millions of untold daughters and sons whose mothers made sacrifices for their benefit. Behind nearly every great woman or man, you can probably find a mother who sacrificed on her child’s behalf. I’d bet you could tell me stories of sacrifices your mother made for you. I want to close with a true story. Margaret had shed a few tears and tasted some bitterness in her life. In her younger years, during the nineteen forties, she’d married a handsome, young bombardier and they enjoyed a three day honeymoon before he was ordered to go to Europe. She thought her heart would break at their parting, yet she also entertained the hope that he would return from the war. He never did. Two months later, she received a telegram that informed her that her dashing, handsome husband had been shot down, captured and killed by the Nazis. Margaret became very angry over his death. She blamed God for her loss and became bitter. Still only in her twenties, she wondered if life was over for her. Yet a few years later, she met another man. This man, much older than she, promised her some security and a family. Margaret dearly wanted children. She wanted children more than anything. So the two were wed and honeymooned in Cuba. After they returned to Texas, she immediately tried to have children but she was in for more heartache. She miscarried twice. Margaret began to wonder if she would ever have any children. Like Hannah, she was in distress of heart and soul. But also like Hannah, she finally did carry a child to term and gave birth to a son. All during this time, she had enjoyed a productive thirteen year career for a magazine in San Antonio. She continued working after the child was born, at a time when there weren’t many working women. It broke her heart to leave her child with her sitter, a trusted friend, but she enjoyed her work and her career was important. After two years, and much soul searching, she gave up her career for her child. It was a great sacrifice, but one that she willingly made for the benefit of her child. Five years later, she had another child. She would make many other sacrifices over the years for her two sons. She would know many more heartaches. There would be times when her sons would let her down and break her heart. There would be times when they would disappoint and discourage her. There would even come a time when one of her sons would be murdered and her heart would be torn apart from sorrow. Yet despite all the pain and heartache, all the tears and grief, she’d tell you today, that if she could choose again, she would make the very same choice: she would never trade the heartaches away for her career. My life benefitted from those sacrifices, for the woman I’m speaking of is none other than my own mother. I thank God for her and for all she gave up for me. I can never repay her adequately for the countless hours she spent with me and for always being there when I came home. Great blessings always come upon children and society at large because of the sacrifices of mothers.
Conclusion: There’s no greater or more noble vocation than that of motherhood. Like Hannah and a whole host of others, your mother has made precious sacrifices for you. How will you respond and let her know?
