Grace and Peace OCC Family,
Easter Sunday was a beautiful day. The Foster family set a tone of generosity and welcome that morning, and we are grateful for them. What they offered was more than food; they offered us all a time of belonging, a reminder that community is itself an act of worship.
Among all the beautiful sights of Easter day was Mama Betty and Mama Esther.
Mama Betty showed up in her favorite purple outfit, simple, gracious, and beautiful. That is really all that needs to be said and then there was Mama Esther. Mama Esther had on her sparkly green diamond shoes, and she was singing her heart out during worship. I could hear her from the pulpit, and it was heartwarming. More than that, after church, she took the time to look for people, to uplift people, and she deposited something loving into everyone she encountered that day.
As I greeted people at the door, out of the corner of my eye I could see Mama Esther sitting with the young and the older, and I could overhear her encouraging each one through story and scripture in their walk with the Lord. She lovingly pointed them to the One who has brought her through all these years. If Mama Betty’s enduring presence was a sermon, then Mama Esther’s words were the altar call.
Why highlight them? Because, impressively, both of these women, who are the oldest members in our church, are in their 90s. Their minds are sharp, and their bodies can still move around to get to church. That is a testimony all by itself. That is the Lord’s keeping power concerning them.
When the world tells us that age diminishes, Mama Betty and Mama Esther serve as living epistles, evidence that a life anchored in God does the opposite. A life in God sustains, strengthens, and endures. We would do well to pay close attention when our elders are present because they offer a wisdom that has been lived, tested, and proven over time.
Scripture has always had something to say about the kind of lives Mama Betty and Mama Esther live. Psalm 92:14 in the NRSV says it plainly and powerfully: “In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap.” Green and full of sap, that is the language of vitality. It is the language of a tree that has gone deep with its roots, so deep that the seasons can change, and the years can pass, and yet there will still be life.
Mama Betty and Mama Esther are green and full of sap. Their lives demonstrate for us that faithfulness to God is cumulative; it builds on itself and grows richer with time, producing fruit that blesses everyone around it. We are seeing the harvest of decades of faithful living, and it is glorious.
Then there is Psalm 73:28, which feels as though it was written with Mama Esther’s own words echoing in the background: “But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, to tell of all your works.” This is the declaration of someone who has lived long enough to know that closeness to God is the greatest treasure life has. After all the years, after all the seasons, after all the joys and the sorrows, it is still good, it is always good, to be near God.
I am sure this is the invitation that Mama Betty and Mama Esther extend to each of us, simply by living the way they live. They are showing us what it looks like to stay near, to stay grounded, to stay fruitful in God, and they are doing it well in their 90s with grace, wisdom, a stunning purple outfit, and green sparkly shoes.
If Mama Betty and Mama Esther can show up on Easter morning dressed beautifully, encouraging others, and pursuing God with everything they have, then so can we. Whatever season we find ourselves in, whatever we are dealing with, whatever the journey has looked like up to this time, there is still more ahead, and God is faithful on every mile of it.
Let their lives be the encouragement we need beyond Easter Sunday. Let the image of Mama Betty in her purple outfit and the sound of Mama Esther’s unapologetic voice press us toward God as we march on with the Lord.
May you keep on keeping on. May you stay close to God and be fruitful. Because the same God who has kept Mama Betty and Mama Esther strong in mind, body, and spirit through all of their years is the very same God walking with each of us today, and that is more than enough reason for us to press on.
The peace of the Lord be with you, for the Lord has risen,
Rev. Tam
