The Silent Weeping of a Mother Who Lost Her Children

The sermon begins by presenting the story of Rizpah, a concubine of King Saul, an unfortunate woman caught in a power struggle between King Ish-Bosheth and General Abner. Rizpah transitions from a favored palace woman to an innocent victim of circumstances beyond her control. When King Saul dies, she loses all status, royal favor, and honor, becoming a tool in the power game of men. Her two sons are later required to die to atone for King Saul's massacre of the Gibeonites, a people to whom Israel had sworn a covenant four hundred years earlier.

The second section develops how Rizpah faces this tragedy through the profound love of a mother for her children. After her two sons are pierced by the Gibeonites and their bodies are hung at the gate of Gibeah in early barley harvest (late April), Rizpah lies on a coarse cloth spread on a rock for five months, enduring scorching sun by day to protect the corpses from birds, and bitter cold by night to guard them from wild animals. A mother's love becomes her only weapon and strategy to face the calamity. She does not become passive or despairing but continues to fight for her husband's honor and for her sons to receive proper burial and respect. This story demonstrates that suffering can make a person courageous and stronger in faith rather than paralyzed and hopeless.

The third section applies the lesson to the congregation's real-life situations, especially parents who have lost children in modern society. Many mothers lose their children not only through death, but through children going astray, abandoning faith, or being negatively influenced by society, school, and the internet. The preacher emphasizes that the church should be a place of love, extending open arms to welcome wayward children, rather than judging or condemning unfortunate parents. Through the story of Ruth Graham, author of "Prodigals—and Those Who Love Them," the sermon illustrates that God is a Father with a parent's heart, ready to welcome children even if they are wounded, dirty, or tattered. Finally, the sermon concludes with a father's advice from a work by Edmond de Amicis, emphasizing that filial piety and parental love are sacred duties and the highest values in human life.