Joseph Edward Lawrence Memorial Service (2019 01 05)

Memorial Service – Joseph Edward Lawrence
Crumpler Funeral Home
Raeford, NC
5 January 2019


Good morning!  My name is Justin DuBose and my only connection to the family is through Angela over here.  For the past few years, I’ve been privileged to serve as her Chaplain in our Army Reserve unit.  Thank you for allowing me to be here with you today.
Funerals and memorial services force us to think on certain things that we otherwise would perhaps not consider.  The most obvious is our own mortality.  No one likes to think too much about their own life and death, but these moments force us to think about it.  Before we leave here today, we will pause briefly and consider our own lives and what someone might say at our funeral.
However, before I do that, I want to provide an opportunity for some of you to share your own memories of Mr. Lawrence.  As the stranger here, I certainly don’t want to be the only one who speaks given that I did not know Mr. Lawrence at all.  So, at this point, if you have a short memory to share that would highlight some of the personality that made up, I want to invite you to stand up and share with us all.


As your stories and memories make evident, life is truly a precious gift.  It is really a testament to the inherent value that life has that brought us all here today.  Sure – this is a memorial service for Mr. Lawrence, but is a memorial to his life and a celebration of that life that brings families and friends together for occasions such as this.  We understand that life itself is precious, immeasurably valuable, and, above all, worthy of remembering and celebrating together.  It’s life, not death, that brought us here today and, if you’ll indulge me for a few moments longer, I’d like to share with you a truth that radically transformed my own view, understanding, and appreciation of the gift of life.  As you ponder your own life, I would ask you to please consider what I mentioned earlier – the meaningfulness of your life, the purpose for which you live now, and the words which, one day, some person will utter from a podium while you lie eternally still surrounded by your own loved ones.
During my teenage years I came across a poem by a man named C.T. Studd who was a famous British cricketer before he devoted his life to Christ and served as a missionary to China from the 1880’s until his death in the 1930’s.  The course of his life was radically altered when his brother became deathly ill and Studd, at the height of his athletic fame, was forced to address the question, “What is all the fame and flattery worth when a man comes to face eternity?”  In pondering that question, he immediately gave up his athletic fame and flattery for a life on the mission field.  While on the mission field he wrote the poem, “Only One Life.”  This poem radically changed not just my own understanding of life, but even my life itself.  The poem reads like this:
Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.


Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.


Only one life, the still small voice,
Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave,
And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.


Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.


When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.


Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.


Oh let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.


Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say,”Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say “twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.


What was Studd saying here?  He was highlighting a deep, amazing biblical truth about life: our lives, as short or long as they may be, when surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ can make a difference for all eternity.  Studd understood, and I urge you to understand, the words of Christ from John 11:25-26.  Jesus here was speaking to a woman about what real, true life was, and he uttered these timeless words.  He said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
The Bible speaks frequently about life.  James 4 says very pointedly, “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”  Our lives, the Bible tells us, are like mists of water that are here for a little while and then vanish.  Psalm 90 even quantifies that word “life” for us.  It reads, “The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength; for they quickly pass, and we fly away.  Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  At the ripe age of eighty-eight, Mr. Lawrence had some serious strength!
Even with the few Scriptures we have read already, the Bible is very clear about two things: life is short, but, through our Lord Jesus Christ, we may have eternal life and blessed rejoicing in His presence.
But what about us who remain?  What about those of us here today who carry on in this world until the Lord calls us home?  How may we experience that true life on Earth that Jesus was addressing?  Is it even possible, or is it reserved only for life beyond the grave?  I would suggest to you this afternoon that just as a physical Jesus was speaking to a physical woman about her life, so He would say the same to you: this day, because of the resurrected Lord, you too may experience this true life.  Your life, today, can be an experience of life the way our Creator intended it to be both now and for eternity – a walk that involves loved and being loved, known and being known by an eternal God.
On one of the many occasions when the Pharisees were questioning Jesus, He responded to them in John 5:24 and said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”  Don’t overlook the fact that Jesus uses that verb in the past tense.  You HAVE eternal life; you HAVE crossed over from death to life.  Jesus is telling us something of immeasurable importance here: it has already happened!  True life, REAL life, as the Lord intended it to be is available now and not just after we die.  What amazing truth that the Lord would have you receive this afternoon!  Real life – true life – life as it was intended to be experienced is available for this life, today, and the life to come.  How does this life that Jesus speaks of contrast to life that so many lead apart from him?
As strange as this may sound, I’d like to demonstrate this contrast of true life as compared to just living using an illustration from the famous children’s book, “The Velveteen Rabbit”.  This famous children’s book, published almost 100 years ago now, chronicles the story of a little stuffed rabbit and his desire to become real through the love of his owner.  As I read a section of this book, you can imagine the difference in a life lived without Christ, which is void of any real life, as compared to an authentic, dynamic personal walk with our Lord.


“The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others.  He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces.  He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else.  For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.  “What is REAL?” asked the velveteen rabbit one day, when they were laying side by side near the nursery fender, before nana came to tidy the room.  “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”  “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse.  “It’s a thing that happens to you.  When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”  “Does it hurt?” asked the rabbit.  “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful.  “When you are real, you don’t mind being hurt.”  “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”  “It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse.  “You become.  It takes a long time.  That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.  Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby.  But these things don’t matter, at all, because once you are real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”


    Is that not a magnificent illustration of the difference in experiencing REAL life and just living?  Real life is something that happens to you, as the Skin Horse told the rabbit, and the Scripture tells us that this “something” is the overwhelming presence of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Real life is not even understood apart from the love of Christ present in our lives.  And, what is most spectacular to me in all of this, is that Jesus tells us that this real, true life is available to us on this side of eternity.  Today, Jesus tells us, if we simply confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and surrender our life to Him, then we can finally, truly, and personally experience real, true life.  And, like the Skin Horse intimated to the velveteen rabbit, once you are real you can never be unreal again, nor would you ever want to.
You see, this is the difference in life with Christ and life without.  A life with Jesus is not just for life beyond our final earthly breath, it is very much for every day of this “mist” that the Lord gives you.  The difference is in being one amongst a crowd of faces and one who truly knows and understands love and can rest in such love.  He speaks to you today, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
I’ll ask that we all take a few moments and meditate on our own lives.  What kind of life are we leading?  What significant purpose is our life serving?  Based on today, what words would we expect uttered at our funeral?  And, ultimately, what is our eternal destiny?  I’m going to ask that we take thirty seconds of quiet meditation and go before the Lord and examine our own hearts and lives in light of this truth.


Let’s take 30 seconds.  I’ll watch the time.


I’d like to close this service by singing a benediction from Numbers 6.  It was a benediction of blessing by the priest over the people.  As you consider what we’ve considered today, I do pray and will pray that your life – today, tomorrow, and for eternity – would be blessed by the presence of Jesus Christ.
“The Lord bless thee and keep thee.  The Lord make His face to shine upon thee.  The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace.  And be gracious unto thee, and be gracious unto thee.  The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace.”


AMEN.