This homily was heard at the clubhouse of Betty's apartment complex in Berryville, Arkansas on Thursday July 22, 2010.
Psalm 23
Titus 3:1-7
Psalm 121
Luke 10:25-37
The lawyer’s question to Jesus has been asked by humanity since the beginning of time. What must I do to inherit eternal life?
Often, all too often, when we read an obituary in the news paper it begins, “Our Sister left this world to be with her Lord…” Far be it from me to tell you that Betty is not with her Lord. In this service of Witness to the Resurrection we begin with this very truth. Yet I must let you know with all humility that Betty did not leave this world to be with her Lord. Betty has been with God long before she and I first met three years ago. Betty knew this quite well, quite well indeed: Eternal life begins while we are still here on earth. Eternal life begins with life in Christ and Betty knew this well; very, very well. She lived like she was a child of God.
She followed the law not just in word, but also in deed. She knew the words of scripture; she knew that she was saved by grace though faith. She knew for sure that a vibrant faith in the living God is about receiving and sharing God’s steadfast love, God’s good grace with those around her.
Betty loved the Lord her God with all her heart, and with all her soul, and with all her strength, and with all her mind; and she loved her neighbor as she loved herself. She demonstrated this through her volunteer work for people who needed what she could provide. With energy and imagination she served the Senior Center well through taking care of the Thrift Shop. She saw the store through three different locations, growing as it moved from space to space to space.
With the church, she helped package school supplies for children whose parents were hard pressed to afford school supplies. Betty and her siblings were raised in humble circumstances, so she knew what it was like to need things for school.
Yet while I say humble, I dare not say poor or impoverished. There is a spirit in her family, from her father who always worked hard to provide for his family to her mother who would tailor and refit WPA clothes handouts during the Great Depression so that her family would have properly fitting clothes. Finances were tight in the dust bowl of western Kansas, and there was eternal life.
Betty was fiercely independent; she could take care of herself as she helped take care of others. In her own words this didn’t set too well before she was school age when her older brother Richard was assigned by their parents to take care of her when they were playing outside. It also had its moments after Betty retired and she moved back to Dodge City to be with her sisters. I can only imagine what it was like when Betty thought she would be taking care of her youngest sister Sharon, and Sharon though the exact opposite. For them it must have been high drama, but I can imagine that for some around them it was pretty amusing.
Yet, Betty did not do these things that she may inherit eternal life. She knew the words of Paul to Titus when he said “when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” She wasn’t like the lawyer who sought to justify himself. She was a woman who knew that it took being a part of the family to receive the inheritance. Betty served others because that is how she learned to serve God, responding to her salvation, not trying to earn it.
Jesus responded to the lawyer’s answer saying, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” By the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, in God’s love Betty lived the answer to this question and continues eternal life today.
She loved God and her neighbor. And we who are here today bear witness; her life has borne glorious fruit. By those she has loved and by those who love her, the fruit of her life continues to thrive and will continue to thrive far, far into the future.
The 121st Psalm is a psalm of trust and confidence in God; assuring pilgrims on the way to and from Zion of God’s constant protection. The question raised in the first verse “I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come?” is answered beginning with “My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
She knew and lived the words of the Psalmist through her life and her acts. She knew the Lord kept her and keeps us all. The Lord keeps our lives from this time and forevermore. And she responded to the gracious love and protection of the Lord our God in acts of boldness, love, and mercy. She knew that it was up to her to share God’s love with the world. She knew this was God’s call in her life. She knew it was as important to share as it was to receive God’s grace, peace, and love.
Let me finish by sharing what Betty wrote the best advice she ever received. When she was young girl, she couldn’t have been older than nine or ten, one summer Betty and her brothers, and her sister; contracted mumps and chicken pox. As miserable as it was for her siblings, Betty had to be taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City from their western Kansas home. It took a while, but Betty mended. Just before she was discharged, the doctor gave Betty this advice, “From now on and for the rest of your life I want you to rest when you get tired, eat whether you’re hungry or not, and be a good girl.
Betty wrote that she seldom missed a meal but she had been tired beyond belief. She didn’t comment about whether or not she had been a good girl though.
Well, Betty might have seldom missed a meal but you couldn’t tell by looking at her. She also knew that sometimes the price of taking care of those you love is fatigue beyond belief. She also knew that none is good but God. Today, I say today as we come together to celebrate the life and witness the joy of the eternal life of Betty Crittenden; today I say yes, she was a very good girl.
She was a wonderful woman, sister, and mother. We celebrate the eternal life that she shared when she heard our Lord tell the lawyer “Go and do likewise.” We celebrate the example she set as a child of God who inherited life eternal as an heir to the kingdom, not as a hired hand. We celebrate the eternal life Betty lived and now continues to live in the name of her Lord.
Let us pray…
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