The Unseen Saints

Abraham is such a strong and powerful figure in the Genesis narrative that we sometimes forget that he was not alone.  The person who stood alongside him was a woman first known as Sarai and then later, Sarah.  She is first mentioned in the Genesis story simply as Abram's wife and then the next word said about her she carried with her until she was ninety years old, "Now Sarai was barren; she had no child."  (Genesis 11:30)  The road that Abraham walked, Sarah walked.  The disappointments which were a  part of Abraham's life were a part of hers.  The promise of God given to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre was given to Sarah.  And like her husband, she struggled through twenty-five years of waiting.     

It often seems that the Biblical story is a story of God dealing only with men.  Their names roll off our tongue much easier than the names of the women who played important roles as well.  One thing is certain.  The promise of God that resulted in the birth of Isaac took more than a man named Abraham.  It required a woman named Sarah as well.  Over the years I have seen many churches in which the leadership roster was dominated with the names of men, but it was also true in those churches that without the faithful service and ministry of so many unseen women, the doors of the church would have closed.  

As we think of those unseen women, our mothers come to mind.  Sunday School teachers are remembered.  The nurseries and piano benches were filled with women.  And even though the changing times has enabled many women to stand in highly visible leadership positions, they still comprise a minority.  As surely as Abraham needed Sarah, so does the church of our day need the serving spirit of so many women who have been and continue to be the unseen saints.  Thanks be to God for each one of them.