Weekly Readings: Genesis 23:1-25:28, 1 Kings 1:1-31, Matthew 1:1-17; 1 Corinthians 15:50-57.

Sarah was central to God's purpose for Israel. She was chosen just as Abraham was and in a few brief chapters we survey their life together. She gave birth to and nurtured Isaac into manhood. Her faith was tested just as Abraham's was and indeed she grew in faith to please God.

The Life and Death of Sarah

Sarah's was a long life by today's standards - a full 127 years. The account of her life is brief by comparison to its length, and the account of her death is even briefer. Yet there is enough in the account of her death to cause us to pause and reflect.

Death was certain for Sarah as it is for every human being. As we meditate on her passing and, for that matter, the death of many others in the Bible, death is taken into the compass of a life. She lived and she died - death being a part of the continuum of the life of faith. We know that her death was not final, any more than it is for any of God's family of faith. She is prominent in Genesis and she is also prominent in the book of Hebrews:

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. (Heb 11:11)

Her prominence in Hebrews, along with her husband Abraham and many others, is because they looked forward to the fulfilment of God's eternal promises, to be completed in a time and place beyond the transient life on earth – however difficult and long that life had been.

Dying in Faith

The brief account of Sarah's death is full of things to consider particularly in an age where many people are losing sight of the way to die in faith, treasuring the last days as much as the former ones of our life.

Chiefly, her death was full of dignity. It was a step of faith for her and for Abraham. Nevertheless, mourning was a full part of the human response and care was taken over her burial. All surely was in the hands of God - a glorious death for this reason.

Precious to God

Life is precious for us all. Old age has its place in the God-ordained processes of life. If, during our lives, like Sarah, we allow God to build our faith through the hills and valleys of experience, then we too in dignity will die in faith at the right time.

Life is precious right to the end and the death of a disciple is as precious to God as the life we have lived. Let us learn to trust him in all this, as surely Sarah did.

Author: Clifford Denton