John Hayes
11/18/2016 Psalm 23:1-6 2 Timothy 4:6-8
It was the year 1929. Al Capone was causing havoc in the city of Chicago with his criminal empire. An influenza epidemic was spreading and taking the lives of over 200,000 people. The Great Wall Street Crash was beginning to happen, and the world was heading into the Great Depression.
In the midst of this bleak and dark time, somewhere in a small town called Camden, Arkansas God had brought Claude Hayes and Mildred Maybray Hayes together to give the world the gift of John Marvin Hayes. You see, no matter how dark things may seem in the world around us, God can always send us a blessing in the midst of it all.
Jesus grew up in a small hick country town called Nazareth. When a guy by the name of Nathaniel heard that Jesus was from Nazereth, he said, “Nazareth, can anything good come out of Nazareth.”
I don’t know how many of you have been to the big city of Camden, Arkansas but today the population is about 1950 people, but when John was born on September 22, 1929 there were 698 in the city. You may ask, out of a city that small, can anything good come out of Camden.
John Marvin Hayes is proof that plenty of good can come out that little city. As a matter of fact on November 8th, 2016. The richest man in Ohio died, and he was from Camden, Arkansas. His name was John Marvin Hayes. His riches are not measured in terms of dollars. His wealth is measured in things far more important. What wealth is greater than to die and have your kids say that he was a great and loving father, and mean it from the depths of their heart.
What wealth is greater than to have grandchildren and great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren who think that you were the greatest Poppa the world has ever known and they share with the world via facebook how much they love you?
What wealth is greater than to have your wife that stood with you for 69 years proclaim to the world that you were a wonderful and loving husband?. What wealth is greater than your church to recognize as you as one of the greatest saints to walk in its midst?
What wealth is greater than to die with your honesty and integrity in tact having given your life to Jesus Christ? What wealth is greater than to be able to say with the Apostle Paul “6 the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
If we could die half as rich as John Marvin Hayes, many of us would be vastly improved. I think the key to his riches, were birthed in the fact he and his wife Jonnie, mastered early in their lives together Philippians 4:12 (NIV) which says 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
John Hayes lived a life of contentment and that provided him with a wisdom that led to the foundation of building a great Hayes family. When Jesus offers us life and offers it abundantly, so many of us mistake, abundance for possessions and things. John understood the abundance to be in terms of relationships with people. He was born a country boy, and all the best of what goes along with country folk was instilled in him. He was polite, he was kind, he was respectful, he was easy going, l he was honest, and he was friendly. He was a gentlemen at all times. He had that folksy southern hospitality that made you feel right at home the moment you entered his house.
I can tell you now, if you could not get along with John Hayes, something was wrong with you. God made him a people person who could accept anybody. He did not look down upon anyone. He was grateful and thankful for what you did for him, and he told you so.
God blessed him with a mind to be quick to learn and not make the same mistake again. If you are in the Hayes Family, you’ve heard the story to remember Mr. Henry. When John was a boy, he had done a bunch of odd jobs for Mr. Henry.
Mr. Henry offered John 50 cents for the work he had done. That was a lot of money back then. John trying to be respectful, said “ ahh Mr. Henry you don’t have to do that” thinking that Mr. Henry would insist that he take it, he waited. To his surprise Mr. Henry said okay. Put his money back in his pocket and walked away. John learned, when somebody offers you a gift, to ahead and take it and be thankful.
Having grown up in Arkansas, John knew the pains of racism and prejudice first hand. He found it here in Cleveland as well. When the call came to March on Washington for freedom and equality, he responded to the call and went. He was there in the crowd the day that Dr. King delivered his speech, “I Have a Dream.”
If you look at the dream Dr. King shared, you will find a lot of it lived out in the life of John Hayes. He made friends with people from all races, among them Catholics, protestants and Jews. His relationships crossed both union and management lines in that he was peacemaker.
He rose from being a little colored boy in the fields of Arkansas, to branch manager in the United States Post Office, judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character. John had a dream that his own kids and grandkids would share that dream.
John told me that when he reached the point at which he could retire, he had the option of retiring or taking a higher position which would mean more money.
It was here that he realized more money did not necessarily mean a richer life. He said no to the money, because he wanted to become a wealthy man with true riches. True riches for him meant the freedom to be able to go back to Arkansas six months every year and spending time with the wife whom he loved enjoying each other. It meant coming back to Cleveland six months a year to be with the children, grandchildren, friends and church that he loved.
True riches meant the freedom to go and to be able to take care of his mother during her elderly years. It meant the freedom to go and to be able to take care of his Uncle Bubba and the other members of the older generation back in Arkansas. It meant the freedom to do things on your own schedule.
Most of us would have taken the job and the money so that we could upgrade our home, upgrade our neighborhood, upgrade our car and then be in bondage and debt until our bodies are ready for the grave in a downgraded life. Because he and Jonnie learned contentment in life, instead of sending mortgage payments to the bank for a bigger home in a better neighborhood, they spent their money investing in each other, in many of us, and in the kingdom of God. You can be a blessing to a lot of people once you learned to stop wanting things just because other people have them. Things do not make your life richer, people do.
God blessed John with a sense of humor that made you want to be around him. He had special little names for people. If he called you one of the quarter boys, that meant you were not worth a quarter. We had a group called Men Who Excel which was a group of men trying to help each other become better men and fathers. John would often say, he was looking for the guy who his wife was married to, because this guy kept getting him into trouble with her. he did not mind making himself the brunt of his jokes. I told him once when I grow up I want to be just like you he responded. Pastor Rick I'm disappointed in you. why did you set your goal so low.
John had the gift of taking life easy. Jonnie said it a little more direct in saying “John Marvin was lazy.” Gail liked working for her dad because he strongly believed in 15 minute breaks about every 15 minutes. During each break he would send her into the house to get some lemonade or some cookies. When he was working in the yard, almost any reason was a good reason for a break.
John was a man of patience and did not rush into doing anything especially work. He was a man with simple wants and desires. Give him some fried chicken, coconut pie with some black walnut ice cream, in front of Kitty, Festus, Doc, and Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke and John Hayes was as happy as he could be.
One of the greatest gifts that God has given to the African American Community, The Nation and the church itself has been the 69 year marriage of John and Jonnie Hayes filled with being each other’s best friend, lover, and companion in life. Can we give him and her a round of applause.
How do you have a 69 year marriage, well it begins with starting young? Don’t wait until you’re 40 to get married if you want it to last for 69 years. Their courtship started in high school at a school dance. John asked Rosa Lee to go to the dance with him. He was happy to take her to the dance which he did.
Jonnie came to the dance on her own. I’m not sure of the details, but by the time the dance was over, John took Jonnie home. Jonnie does not remember how Rosa Lee got home, but it certainly was not by John. Now Jonnie was a basketball star, and John would be in the stands cheering her on game after game.
He finally got up enough nerve to ask her to marry him. She expected him to ask her, but she was surprised at his timing but she still said yes. Of course being a country boy, he had to ask her father for permission to marry her.
John went to her father to ask for permission, thinking he would then have to save up money for the wedding. Well to his surprise her father said, “Yes. You do mean today right, because I can take you both to the Justice of the Peace.”
I don’t know if John had a flashback for a second to Mr. Henry or not, but he was not going to lose another great gift, so he said yes. So at 18 and 19, they went to the justice of the peace that day and got married. Jonnie was ashamed to kiss him in front of her father, but she managed and they were married.
John took his new wife home where he was living with his mother. His mother had not given him a key to the house, so they had to climb through the window to get inside for their honeymoon. His mother said, she always knew he was going to come home married someday, but even she was surprised by the timing.
We were having a marriage day at church one Sunday, and I asked John and Jonnie if they would help me to tell the story of a long lasting marriage between a couple. John had done some acting in high school, and he was glad to be able the talent for the church. Jonnie was more than happy to do it. The video is entitled He Was Walking Her Home. It’s the story of a man who fell in love with a woman was with her until the end. Here is the video they made.
(show video)
John and Jonnie were able to do all that they did together because of their individual and joint commitment to follow Jesus Christ. Life for them was not always easy. But Jesus provided them with the love, the grace, the mercy and the forgiveness they needed to both endure and enjoy each other for nearly seventy years.
John Hayes has left behind a legacy of ordained days and has gone home to be with Jesus Christ. You may think, with all the joy and laughter he brought into the lives of his family and friends, and with all the love and commitment he gave to his wife, children, and grandchildren, and all the service that he gave to his church that John certainly deserves to go to heaven.
But if could speak to us today, he would say that’s not quite true. You see, according to the Bible, none of us deserves to go to heaven. For all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards. Did you know that according to Jesus, most people will not go to heaven? Most people will not leave the broad road of destruction they are on, to get on the narrow road that leads to life because they will not enter the narrow gate.
Entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to enter that narrow gate that leads to eternal life. All you have to do is to admit, "God, I have done a lot of things I should not have done. I realize I cannot pay for all that I have done. I ask you for forgiveness. I accept that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, He being holy and righteous, paid the penalty for my sin. I invite him to come into my life and take control of it." John Hayes made that decision years ago and has not regretted it since.
You will make numerous decisions in your life between your birth and your death. But the only decision that will still be personally affecting you a 1000 years from today, is what did you do with Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches there will certainly be a resurrection of everybody from the dead, and then comes the judgment of God. We will spend eternity in either the Lake of Fire or on the new earth and new heavens.
John Marvin Hayes is prepared for that Judgment because he put his complete faith and confidence in the work of Jesus Christ to give him a righteousness that is acceptable to God. He believed the verse in the bible that says, “He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it.”
For those of us who die without knowing Jesus Christ. John Marvin Hayes will only be a memory, a very good and loving memory. But for those of us who do know Jesus Christ, John Marvin Hayes is simply waiting to meet us on the other side with one of his funniest stories ever.
For the Bible clearly teaches,
1 Th 4:13 Brothers and sisters , we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men and women, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
