One of the great Biblical words is Remember. That word is sprinkled 200 times throughout the Bible. They remembered many things: Old Noah and the flood, the coming of the dove with an olive branch in her beak. Remembering a rainbow promising that the water would go down and life would go on.
But there was so much more. God led his chosen people through that terrible wilderness of 40 years… But more—Jesus in his first sermon telling his hometown: “I have come to heal the broken hearted.” But so much more. Bethlehem…and Jerusalem and all those dusty miles in between. The miracles. His wonderful stories. His cross. That glorious Easter Sunday. Those he left behind left grief-stricken and afraid but one day—one day— would remember and those remembrances kept them going.
And so we make use of that proper word, Remember today. Sid Hays was born in Arab, Alabama in May 31, 1931. He grew up in a family with a brother and two sisters.
Somewhere back there in Arab surrounded by Gospel songs and Scripture—he walked down that little church’s aisle and said: “Yes.” He was baptized there that happy day…that happy day because that flickering spark of faith grew and grew and carried him all the way to the finish line.
I can just imagine one 3:00 o’clock dark morning Sid’s boat began to move slowly, slowly away from the shore and his boat moved until it was almost out of sight and Ruth and Shannon and Lee—squinted— on the horizon across the water as the sun came up and that tiny boat landing on the far shore was filled with incredible light. No more breathing machines. No more oxygen tanks and no more pain. Just laughter…great laughter.
He was an Entomologist—and an Auburn man. He was a veteran and served his country in Korea. Back home—a young woman in the Zoology Department in Auburn held up a white rat by the tail in her lab. The Atlanta Journal picked up that picture. And a man named Sid saw the picture of a girl named Ruth. She was at Auburn in Graduate School. He kept that picture and found her lab and met her and the rest is history. They were married for 56 years. Two daughters came into their family: Anna Lee and Shannon. And then much later there would be three grandchildren.
Sid had a motto: “Never, ever, ever give up.” And this man of faith and integrity and love never did give up.
We remember he left his fingerprints everywhere. Family and Friends and Church and the farm he loved and his beloved pecan orchard.
I share with you two stories that I remember about Sid. At the First Baptist Church in Clemson his fingerprints were everywhere. And when we built an addition to our church and renovated the sanctuary not only was he Chair of the Building Committee but he built the pulpit furniture and Communion table that you can find there today.
Later when I moved to a church in Birmingham we were building a new sanctuary and Sid volunteered to build the pulpit furniture there—a pulpit, a lectern and a Communion table. But that’s not the end of that story. About two months later someone forgot to snuff out an advent candle on the Communion table and it burned all the way through the table and then went out. I called Sid and he said, “Well, I’ll just have to build you another one.” And he did. So many stories about his fingerprints. A tornado swept through Birmingham and Sid read in the paper about this Baptist church that was totally destroyed. Sid called them up and asked if he could build their pulpit furniture. And when they were finished he loaded them up on his truck left his farm, drove down Interstate 85 through Atlanta all the way to Birmingham.
Oh we could tell all sorts of stories. His faithfulness…his bone-deep integrity and love that took him all the way to that dark August morning when he slipped away into the mystery. We thank God for Sid Hays and his incredible life.
But I think Sid would want me to talk about some other rememberings today.We gather in this holy place and look around this beautiful sanctuary filled with so many reminders of faith. The words the Pastor has read: “The Lord in my Shepherd…surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the way to the finish line.” We come here to remember Jesus’ Beatitude : “ Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.” And the words our Lord spoke there toward the end: “Let not your hearts be troubled…” And the beautiful promise: “I will not leave you orphans…I will send my Spirit, the Comforter to be with you through thick and thin.”
So I would remind us all that grief is a long and circuitous journey. But we lean on those Everlasting arms. God is here touching us one and all with whatever we bring here today. “Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows.”
And so we remember Sid and lift up his family…Ruth and Lee and Shannon and these grandchildren and all of us.
I close my remarks with that wonderful Roman Catholic prayer for the Dead: “
“Into paradise may the angels lead dear Sid; at his coming may the martyrs take him into eternal rest, and may the chorus of angels lead him to that holy city, and the place of perpetual light.”
And the Benediction:
“And now may the peace that passeth all understanding and the love that will never let us go rest and abide with us today and forever. Amen”
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--Roger Lovette. rogerlovette.blogspot.com
This memorial meditation was part of Sid Hays' funeral service at the Boulevard Baptist Church, Anderson, SC
August 29, 2021
Thanks again, Roger, for your wonderful
ReplyDeleteMeditations on life and love! In this. As embodied here in memories of a good man.
A wonderful message, Roger. Thank you.
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