Isaiah 40:28–31 — the Message
Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?
God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.
God is the Creator of all you can see or imagine.
God doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch a breath.
And God knows everything, inside and out.
God energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.
Today I am humbled, honored, and deeply saddened that I stand in this pulpit giving this message. I am humbled and honored because of the rich history for which Shiloh United Methodist church had been know. I am also deeply saddened because we have lost a man who we never thought would leave this earth: my, well, all of ours’ Papa Joe.
He was a faithful and loving husband for 66 years. In fact, though BJ and Papa were married in February of 1955, they didn’t live together for the first time until April 10th, 1955, when she went to Fort Hood to be with him after his basic training. Out of those 66 years of marriage, a family blossomed; A family for which I am so grateful and so glad to be a member.
Papa Joe loved his family. Honestly, he loved everyone, but he really loved us. He treated his in- laws just like he treated his own children. He loved Mom, Robert, and Richard. He loved Dad, Leigh, and Shawn. And let me tell you, he loved Emily and Jake and me. And we all knew that. We all felt that. He loved deeply.
In the last few days that we were all together and in these last weeks, he knew all of us. Even until Thursday when he started moving from this realm to the next, he would call each one of us by name. And though it was hard to let him go and to see this transition, I am ever more convinced in the holiness that resides in the love of family and the peace that passes all understanding, even in the midst of death. For we all know, death is not the final word.
Papa Joe was also a faithful Methodist all of his life and loved this church. As I was thinking about his, and our Methodist roots, I had to quote John Wesley. I mean, come on. I’m a United Methodist Preacher and I think we learned in seminary that we had to quote John Wesley or else… But alas,
My favorite quote by John Wesley is:
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
And that was Papa.
He was good. You can’t say that many people are just “Good”, period. But he was good.
And he spread goodness wherever he went. He spread goodness all the time. He spread goodness to everyone, no matter who they were. And he was good and beautiful human on this earth until his last breath.
Growing up, if I ever introduced myself to people I didn’t know in Rankin County, I would be sure to mention my middle name. Justin Warren White. And inevitably, people would ask, “Warren? Are you kin to the judge?” and I’d say, “that’s my uncle Ken.” “Well are you kin to the insurance man?” and again, I’d say, “that’s my uncle Gird.” And finally, they’d get to the telephone man. “Are you kin to the telephone man?” and I’d say, “yep, he’s my granddad, Papa Joe.” And they would always say, “I love that man. He’s so good. He worked on my telephone.” Or “he did this for me” and “he did that for me.” And he did. He did so much for so many people.
I was thinking about all the stories I could tell. And then realized I’d have to write a book about him to get everything down and we only have so much time today, but I do want to share a few stories.
First of all, it’d be a travesty if I didn’t tell you about all the times he and Mrs. Mabel Sowell, or MiMi as we called her, had fun interactions with her driving prowess. Not once, not twice, but quite a few times, when MiMi would come visit us, she’d get her big ‘ol tank stuck in the ditch in front of our house on Old Bugg Road. And every single time, Papa Joe would have to come pull her out. And he always did it. I know it had to be somewhat exasperating, but I never once heard him complain. Also, one day MiMi ran into him in his truck and got out and said, “Thank God it’s you Joe. If I’m gonna hit one of my neighbors, I’m glad it’s you.”
Papa Joe loved fishing. In fact, he taught Jake how to fish. He taught many of us in here to fish. But one time, he took Jake fishing and they had their poles in the water. Papa turned around, and then heard Jake say, “I caught one!” He looked back up and Jake had his fishing line in the bucket of the fish that had already been caught. And he didn’t mind it at all. He loved telling that story.
Emily told me a story the other day that none of us knew.
When she was in fourth grade, her and some friends decided to wear UGGs to East Rankin, despite the dress code, thinking that if they all did it, they wouldn’t get in trouble. It was an icy day, and in their minds, really, what would East Rankin do to them? Well, it is East Rankin. They pulled all the girls out of the class and took them to the office. After they prayed about their transgression, they had to stay in the office until someone brought them a new pair of “correct” shoes. Emily called BJ and Papa’s — Papa Joe answered and she told him what happened. He said he’d bring her the correct pair. She told him where they were and when he went to look for them, he didn’t know which ones exactly to bring. So, Papa Joe grabbed every pair of shoes that he could find and brought them to her at school. She said, “he walked into that school with all my shoes piled up in his arms and helped me find the right pair.”
That was his goodness. He was one of the best men we will ever know.
There are so many other stories, and as I am telling these, I’m sure others in here have stories about Papa Joe. I know Renea still uses the fishing jugs he gave her. I know many of you called him in the middle of the night to help you out. I even know that there is one of you in here who was with your friends riding and “lost” your keys while you were getting some beverages out of the car trunk. When y’all asked mom to come rescue you (y’all were in high school at the time) Papa Joe woke up when the phone rang and came instead. He got there and turned that big ol spotlight he had on, and low and behold, he found the car keys on the tail bumper of the car. I’m sure, making y’all feel silly.
And those are just a few stories.
If everyone in the world was as good as Papa Joe, the world would be a lot better off.
I must admit; my heart is still broken that he is no longer physically here with us. I will grieve, and we all will miss him for the rest of our lives, but he is at peace, and now is a part of that great cloud of witnesses in Heaven that looks down upon us, as they all feast at God’s vast and bountiful banquet table.
After his resurrection, Jesus showed up three different times to the disciples and each time he said, “Peace be with You.” In fact, every time that Jesus showed up after he had risen from the grave, he brought peace to all he saw and met.
This peace and the presence of Christ is still with us, but it is particularly real for those who have passed from this realm to the next. When we move from this earthly body to our fully resurrected bodies, we too meet Jesus and Jesus extends that same Peace to us. I saw that Peace on Friday as Papa Joe made that slow, faithful, journey and crossed the threshold from his earthly body to his eternal body that will never be in pain, that will never suffer, and that will meet us all one day when we too join in the party at that heavenly banquet table. And who knows? When we one day see Papa again in glory, maybe he will take us fishing, or drive us around, and I know he will definitely be piddling with something. But one thing is for sure, until that day, I will always remember and cherish him. My Papa Joe. Our Papa Joe. Beloved husband. Brother. Daddy. Papa. And Friend.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
