An Indian chief's daughter by the name of Shell Flowers came to appreciate the ways of
the white man. She learned English, and then took for herself the Christian name of
Sarah. She was fortunate to come under the influence of General Howard, the
commanding officer of Fort Lynn, for he loved minorities and fought for their rights. He
was a hero of the Civil War who had fought for the rights of blacks, and now he was
trying to be a peacemaker between the Indians and the whites.
When the Indians of Idaho went on the war path, Sarah risked her own life by finding
their camp and rescuing 75 of her own people. Then she rode on horseback for 223 miles
in three days to get General Howard. He was able, because of her information, to put
down the uprising and prevent widespread blood shed. General Howard wrote a book
titled Famous Indian Chiefs I have known. In this book he wrote this of Sarah Winnemucca:
"If I could tell you but a tenth part of all she willingly did to help the white
settlers and her own people to live peaceably together, you would think as I do that the
name of Sarah should have a place beside the name of Pocahontas in the history of our
country."
Most people are not aware of this Sarah who played a major role in part of our
countries history, nor are they aware of the thousands of Sarah's all over the world who
have made this an honorable name by their achievements. We have such women as
Sarah Caldwell, the only woman who has ever conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in
New York. Many are the famous and ordinary people who proudly wear the name
Sarah. It has been a popular name all through history because of the first woman to ever
wear that name, which was Sarah the wife of Abraham. She is the only woman I am
aware of who had her name changed by God, like many of the famous men in the Bible.
The name Sarah means princess, and it was given to her directly by God. Sarah could
not imagine that her name would become so famous for all the rest of human history.
After all, she was 89 years old and barren, so the future looked very bleak as far as
posterity goes, and any chance of making her name of any significance in history. Yet,
out of these extremely limiting circumstances Sarah became one of the most famous
mothers in all of history. It is hard to find anyone who can come close to matching Sarah
in the fame she achieved in a world notorious for putting women down.
As Abraham is the father of Judaism, so Sarah is the mother of Judaism. These two
were Gentiles who married each other in the pagan culture of Ur of the Chaldees, and
they became the first two Jews in history. What a paradox that Judaism started with Ma
and Pa Gentile. No wonder God says of Sarah in verse 16, "I will bless her so that she
will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." No other mother in
history has been so honored by so many nations. The Jewish nation, the Christian
nations, the Mohammedan nations, all trace the origin of their faith to father Abraham
and mother Sarah.
They are the only couple in the Bible who are both referred to in the great faith
chapter of Heb. 11. They are the only parents in the Old Testament who are promised by
God that their seed would be a blessing to every family on earth. They are the only
couple in biblical history whose tomb is still a place of honor in the world today. The
only burial of a woman recorded in the Bible is that of Sarah. She is the only woman in
the Bible whose age at the time of death is recorded. She was 127 years old. She and
Abraham had over a 100 years of married life together, and she had 37 years of being a
mother in spite of her late start at age 90.
Sarah is the first woman in the Bible to have the journey of her life recorded. More is
more recorded about Abraham and Sarah than all of the human race up to their time.
Certainly God intended us to learn something about motherhood from this most unique
of all mothers. The first thing the record compels us to examine is-
I. HER MISSED MOTHERHOOD.
There are few people who know both sides of the story like Sarah. She knew by
experience the full impact of non-motherhood. It seemed strange, but the most famous
mother in history is also the leading authority of what it is like not to be able to be a
mother. Many have gone years before they could conceive a child, and many have never
been able to conceive, but there is no record of anyone ever living 90 years with near 70
of them in trying to conceive. This most successful mother of nations holds the record
for failure to become a mother. Most of the non-mothers of history have not lived
motherless as long as Sarah did.
She knew what it was like to spend her entire youthful state of life listening to other
mothers talk about babies, and not have one of her own to talk about. She experienced
all of the social and culture agony of having no fruit of the womb. She could have written
the book on the misery of denied motherhood. Even though she finally conceived, the
fact is, she lived the entire period of her child bearing years barren and childless. She is
the only mother we know of who experienced so completely the life of missed
motherhood. This is not without great significance, for it reveals that Sarah could live a
life pleasing to God as a good wife and godly person without motherhood. If she had not
been a good wife to Abraham, and a woman faithful to God through all of those years of
barrenness, God never would have chosen her to be the mother of nations. But if God
had never chosen her, her life would still have been one pleasing to Him.
The point is, her life as a non-mother was a beautiful life and worthy of honor.
Motherhood is not what made Sarah a beautiful person. She was beautiful as a
non-mother, and is thus, a great example to the non-mothers of history. She was a
faithful loving wife for near 70 years before she bore Abraham a son. She proved you
can have a satisfying and fulfilling married life even without a child.
Most of the Bible couples were parents, and their lives revolved around their children,
but Abraham and Sarah were husband and wife, and their lives revolved around each
other. They developed a high esteem for each other as mates. Sarah was so deeply loved
by Abraham that had she never bore him a child there is not the slightest hint that he
would have left her for a woman who could. We need to remember that Hagar was
Sarah's idea and not Abraham's. She was more to him than a baby maker. Sarah was
first of all a good wife, and that is the primary responsibility who wants to be a good
mother. Next we see-
II. HER MIRACULOUS MOTHERHOOD.
Her story puts the typical change of life baby story into the shadows by comparison. I
have known women who have conceived in their 50's, but to give birth at age 90 is
beyond anyone's experience. This is like having a delivery room at the nursing home. It
is obvious that by this miraculous conception God is calling attention to the fact that He
is doing a special work in history through this mother. There is no history at all without
mothers. Had Eve not become a mother history would have ended with the first couple.
Motherhood is God's means of making any history at all. But God's plan is for a
history within history that fulfills His purpose, and it is to be carried out by means of
miraculous motherhood. The final fulfillment of this plan was the virgin birth of Jesus
Christ, but the start of this chain of events was the miraculous motherhood of Sarah.
Her womb was dead, but out of that dead womb God brought forth life, and Sarah
became the first biblical illustration of the resurrection and God's power to bring life out
of death. She produced history's first miracle baby. Next we want to consider-
III. HER MINI MOTHERHOOD.
Sarah did not raise a number of children, but only one. Isaac was her only child, and
that would certainly be enough for a woman her age. The point is, you do not have to
have a large family to be a great mother. Sarah became a mother of nations, and her
single experience of giving birth was all it took for her to start the chain of events that
changed all of history, and led to the Messiah, who changed all of eternity as well.
Never put down or minimize an only child, for that is how God started the most
important family that ever lived, for by means of it every family on earth has been blest.
With God one is always adequate to achieve His purpose for all.
He only has one Son Himself, and He was adequate to redeem the world. Being a good
mother to one child is in God's eye's a marvelous achievement, and no one has ever been
more honored for doing it than Sarah. She was a good wife to one man, and a good
mother to one child.
Her only son Isaac was not one of the most exciting characters of the Bible, but he is
one of the best. He had his flaws, but there is no major sin in his life that is recorded.
The record reveals that he was just a good and godly man. Men like Isaac often trace
their goodness back to the influence of their mother. Edward Everett Hail, the
distinguished Boston pastor and author of The Man Without A Country, tells of bringing
his report card home from school. It should he was 9th in a class of 15. He was
depressed about it and felt ashamed. His mother could see this, and so with tenderness
and understanding she said, "Never mind, Edward, I notice that in your report you are
first in good behavior, and son, that means more to me than to have you the head of the
class and not behave well."
Hail wrote in his dairy: "That was one of the most stirring and heartening
experiences of my life. My mother's understanding and sympathy, making me see that
behavior was more important than high grades, gave me a courage such as nothing else
on earth ever gave me. I might never become a great scholar, but I could always be a
good boy and a good man. That was within the reach of my abilities, and I thereupon
resolved that, what ever else I might become, I would always see to it that my behavior
record was high." He was good and godly because of his mother's influence.
A mini-mother gets only one chance with only one child, but that is all they need for
success. Sarah became the greatest mother in history as a mini-mother with one good
and godly child. God works from quality to quantity, and from this one good child all the
families of the earth were blest, and Sarah by her mini-motherhood became the mother
of nations. Next we look at-
IV. HER MEMORABLE MOTHERHOOD.
There is not a great deal said about this mother of nations as far as her mothering
goes, but the little hints we have tell us she was a marvelous mother who left behind
precious memories. Abraham so loved Sarah that the entire 23rd chapter of Genesis is
devoted to her loving concern for her burial, and his purchase of a cave from the Hittites
in which to bury her. There is only verse that refers to Isaac's response to his mother's
death. In Gen. 24:67 it says that Isaac brought his new wife Rebekah into his mother's
tent, and it closes with-"and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." A husband
and son deeply moved by the loss of this memorable mother.
She did, of course, have this advantage-she died before she became a mother-in-law.
Otherwise she may have left other than pleasant memories. She did not have to past this
test. Other Sarahs have been so tested and failed. Sarah Delano, for example, the
mother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the man who spent more years as president of the
United States than other man. She was a very dominant mother, and Franklin was never
out of her sight for more than hour for the first 14 years of his life. Even when he was
asked to run for public office he said he would have to ask his mother first.
She postponed his wedding with Elenor for a year, and after they got married it was a
constant battle for who was to be in control. These two women could not be in the same
room for half an hour without an argument. Elenor forbid her children to drive, and so
grandma Sarah bought them each a car for their birthdays. She left behind her many
memories that her loved ones would wish to forget. Certainly one of the goals of
mothering is to leave your family with memories of good times in sharing love and fun,
and not times of tension and frustration. These come to all, and are an inevitable part of
life, but these will all fade from the memory if mother's dominant characteristics are
positive.
Millions have stories like Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, a professor of church history and
theology at Andrews University in Michigan. He is convinced that mothers are better
equipped to instill self confidence and self worth in children than are their fathers. He
remembers when he failed an exam in 5th grade in Italy. His father was ready to take
him out of academic studies and put him into vocational school. But his mother knew he
could make it, and she encouraged him, and she got him special help so that he did make
it. He writes, "Truly I would have never become a minister and a teacher were it not for
my mother's vision that saw in me what others failed to see and instilled in me a sense of
self worth and of mission." His memories of his mother were a precious heritage.
Rosemary Ruether is another contemporary professor of history and theology at
Garrett Evangelical Seminary in Chicago. She says that she is what she is because of her
mother who gave her a strong sense of self esteem. She taught her to care about her own
rights as well as the rights of others. As she got older and discovered that the God of the
Bible was also concerned about the rights of others, and that He was for the oppressed
and against the oppressor, she wanted to be a theologian and fight injustice with the
Word of God. Her memory of her mother is a precious heritage.
There are many other testimonies that confirm the picture of the ideal mother in
Prov. 31 where verse 28 says, "Her children arise and call her blessed." Such was the lot
of Sarah, and such should be the goal of every mother. The child may fail to follow the
way a mother teaches, but that is not the failure of her motherhood. The test is, does
even a failing child look back and say, my mother should me a better way? Some of the
worse children had great mothers, and they gave testimony to this fact by expressing the
same positives as successful children.
Tom Bell robbed the first stagecoach in American history on August 11, 1856. A
posse went after him, but he escaped. They went to the home of his girl friend and waited
for three days, and finally he came and was caught. He was marched to a tree, and there
at age 26 he was hanged. He was allowed to write a letter to his mother first. This is what
he wrote: "Dear Mother; I am about to make my exist to another country. I take this
opportunity to write you a few lines. Probably you may never hear from me again. If
not, I hope we may meet where parting is no more. In my prodigal career in this country
I have always recollected your fond admonitions and, if I had lived up to them probably I
would not be in my present condition: But dear mother, though my fate has been a cruel
one, yet I have no one to blame but myself. Give my respects to all of old and youthful
friends. Tell them to beware of bad associations and never to enter into any gambling
saloon, for that has been my ruin. I bit you farewell forever. Your only boy, Tom."
His mother did not fail him. She was a success, for she gave him an alternative, and he
was free to choose it, but did not. God did not fail Israel because she went astray. He
gave them the wise alternative, but they would not submit. A memorable mother is one
which makes children look back from their success or folly and say, mother pointed me in
the right direction. She gave me choices that were good, and whether I took them or not
they bare witness that she was a good mother. Sarah was such a mother, and her son
Isaac was a good and godly man who looked back at his mother's life with precious
memories.
One of the memories everybody had of Sarah was of her laughter. Abraham and
Sarah are the only couple in the Bible who are both in great chapter of faith of Heb. 11,
and they are the only couple who are both portrayed as laughing. It was a joke to both of
them that they would have a child in their old age, and they laughed at the very idea. It
was so funny that their laughter became a lasting memory, for they named their miracle
baby Isaac, which means laughter. Children are richer forever who have memories of a
mother who could laugh and enjoy the humorous side of life.
Norman Vincent Peale loves to recall his mother's sense of humor and laughter. He
remembers once when he sat with her at a funeral, and something the preacher said set
her off. She was fighting desperately to hold it back. She took his hand and whispered,
"For heaven's sake, stop me from laughing." Peale say, "I gave her a stern look which
slowed her down somewhat but I could still feel her shaking." He says he remembered
that incident at her own funeral, and the memory greatly comforted him. Her laughter
made her memory very positive.
Ruth Graham, wife of Billy Graham, and mother of his children, is remembered for her
sense of humor. She was going to meet Billy once in a Southern town that she told
him was full of hillbillys. She pulled down her long dark hair and blocked out a tooth,
and she took off her shoes and walked barefoot to meet him. She had disguised herself so
good that Billy went right past her and didn't even notice it was her. She once felt the
family did not give prayer attention to the importance of Thanksgiving, and so she put
shaving cream instead of whipped cream on the pumpkin pie. She got their attention,
and after that they became more aware of the need to be grateful.
She once served tadpole soup with the tadpoles swimming around to a man who was
forever boasting of himself and bragging of his achievements. When he looked at the
strange contents of his bowl he remained silent the rest of the evening. She had a very
unique way of using humor to change situations, and she will be remembered for this
sense of humor.
It is a good question for a mother to ask herself often-what will my children
remember? Is my motherhood memorable, or will they prefer to forget? Phyllis C.
Michael put it in poetry:
What will my boys remember
When they've grown old and gray?
The pants knees oft were full of holes?
Or the trout we caught that day?
Just what will they remember most?
Two little beds unmade?
Or the fun they had at hide-and-seek
The days that Mother played?
What matter if my ironing waits
While I smooth out their troubles
Take time to kiss those briar-scratched hands,
And start them blowing bubbles?
Will they remember mud-tracked floors
When they've grown old and gray?
What care they if each room is dusted,
If I'm too tired to play?
God chose only one mother to be the mother of nations, but every mother is called to
so live with and love their children that they will want to love Jesus and know God's will
for their life. This is a memory that none will forget, and so on Mother's Day let us
commit ourselves anew to be memorable mothers for the glory of God.
