FROM earliest New Testament times the Church of God in the world has had its “honourable women” whose lives were noted for their godliness and whose memory the people of God cherish even in the darkest days. One such was Mrs. Johanna MacKay of Valtos, Uig, Isle of Lewis who passed away on the 20th October 1995, just short of her 99th birthday, after a long and eventful life.
She was born in Valtos in November 1896, the daughter of Malcolm Matheson and his wife Mary, who was herself a noted Christian in her day. It was of Mrs. Matheson that Rev. William MacLean wrote, “Grace made Mrs. Matheson what she was: a mother in Israel. She was a woman of a natural dignity and bearing and endowed with strong spiritual gifts. . . It is her unfeigned zeal, however, for the Cause of Christ, and that it would be kept pure and entire, for which Mrs. Matheson will be remembered by all who were privileged to know her. She prayed and wrestled for the extension of Messiah’s kingdom not only in Uig but to the ends of the earth.” (Foreword to Memoir and Sermons of Rev. Alexander MacLeod). Indeed, this quotation about Mrs Matheson presents a thumb-nail sketch of her daughter, the subject of this obituary.
Privileged as she was in having the example of vital godliness in her home, Mrs. MacKay was much influenced also by the preaching and instruction of the late Rev. Alan MacKenzie, who was the minister of the Free Presbyterian congregation in Inverness before he joined the Church of Scotland and was called to Uig where he had a fruitful ministry. While still a young girl Johanna worked as a maid in Mr MacKenzie’s manse at Balnacille, and her time there seems to have made a lasting impression on her. The features of life in the Balnacille Manse she spoke of most often were the gatherings of the family and staff for family worship, morning and evening, and the preparation for, and observance of, the Sabbath. She lived to see these observances almost passing out of memory. Uig was indeed a different place then, for there were still those who knew, and had fellowship with, those who were the fruit of the revival in the parish in the days of the Rev. Alexander MacLeod.
Whatever impressions were made on young Johanna, and we believe they were of a permanent nature, it was to be many years before she could say, “I know whom I have believed.” The God who calls His people from death to life is sovereign in all His dealings with them, and for Mrs. MacKay the right road by which the Lord led her was to be a long one, at times difficult, at times lonely, before He used His own word in the mouth of His servant to bring her to the liberty of the gospel. It was at a prayer meeting in Valtos, as the Rev. L. MacLeod, then minister of the Uig congregation, spoke from the words, “My grace is sufficient for thee”, that she got the light and assurance she sought. Soon afterwards she took her place with the Lord’s people at the Lord’s Table. By grace she was called, and by grace she was kept to the end of her earthly pilgrimage.
In any generation Mrs. MacKay would have been a remarkable woman. She was blessed with an active mind, a firm grasp of Reformed doctrine and an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the spiritual history of Uig. She had a large fund of anecdotes from the lives of the godly in Uig and neighbouring parishes which she had heard from her mother, her grandmother and their contemporaries. In this way she was a unique link with the past and it is a cause of regret that so little of this precious record of God’s grace is written or remembered. In those days the god-fearing in Uig, men and women, spoke “often one to another” and theirs was no mere religious talk. The experiences of believers were recounted, compared with Scripture, and combed for true marks of grace. Believers were very conscious of the need of laying hold on the Saviour as the sure foundation, and of the duty of so living that they did not contradict their profession. The things of the Spirit of God took up their waking hours, whether at work, or alone, or in company. No wonder they were so much in prayer. Such believers are the gold thread in the fabric of any community and it was so in Uig. Mrs. MacKay was the last of that line and a true product of it.
Mrs. MacKay was a true mother in Israel, blessed with rare discernment and much of the spirit of prayer. Her frequent overheard petitions were, “Have mercy on sinners in this village;” “Have mercy on this parish where thy work was once so manifest;” “Keep the testimony and witness of our Church;” and, “Have mercy on my soul.” She was no stranger to spiritual trials. As one whose privilege it was to shine brightly, she experienced severe assaults from the wicked one, but like others she overcame “by the blood of the Lamb”.
She was confined to the house for some years before her death and was lovingly cared for by her son, daughter-in-law and daughter. She was mentally alert to the last and had a prayerful interest in the cause of Christ, especially within the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. She kept remarkably up to date with communion seasons in the various congregations within the church, and the journeyings of Church deputies abroad. We believe she prayerfully upheld the hands of the ministers of the gospel and for this alone she is missed.
One of the brightest lights in Uig in this generation has gone out. It was our privilege to know her for a season as she ripened for glory. In the ever increasing darkness what can we do but cry, “Help, Lord”? To her son, daughter-in-law and daughters, and to her only surviving sister, we again extend our sincerest sympathy.
(Rev.) D. J. MacDonald, Dornoch