INTRODUCTION
DESCRIBE HOW GOD VIEW'S DEATH AND HOW WE VIEW DEATH.
At a memorial service, you may hear people talking among themselves or to the family members whose loved one has passed, and you might hear them saying such things as it was quick and unexpected, or he lingered a long time in pain. You might overhear words like this might be devasting to this family going forward because he was the glue that held the family together, or you may hear this family is strong and I sure they are going to pull together. You might hear conversations about how loving this person was to the very end; or you might hear in the end the sickness took a toll on their interaction with everyone.
And to be honest with you, expressing your sentiments to each other and to the family is part of the grieving process. But I never want us to leave out the God part of the grieving process. We need to know what God has to say about the death of a person who has given his life to the Lord. And the Lord makes it very clear what He thinks about one who has died and who knows Him as their Savior. Let me read: Psalm 116:15 (NKJV) 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.
And if the Lord were walking the aisle of this church today talking to family and friends, He would be telling them how precious it is that John came home to live with me on October 14, 2021. “Precious” that an unusual word to use at a memorial service. And in fact, I don’t think I ever heard it used at a memorial service. Now in the hospital, in the birthing unit, “precious” is a probably a common word choice. But not at a memorial service!
So, in the time that I have today, I want to share with you why John’s call to His heavenly home is so precious to Jesus. And “precious” is the perfect word to use at a memorial service.
2 Point #1
SEES GOD FACE TO FACE
Precious is John’s death because now He now sees God face to face. John came to know the Lord at a young age attending church at Siver Creek Baptist Church with his parents. He was baptized there, and he served the Lord from that church for many years. Many of you may recall that John had a great voice, sang bass, and would sing at weddings, funerals, and church services. You might not have known that John played the piano. Listen, churches need more men who can play the piano.
John started coming to Bala Chitto Baptist Church a little while after I got here. We just hit it off. And Bala Chitto discovered quickly that John was a Baptist boy that could really cook. So, I believe that it was Obie Simmons who put John in charge of our tomato gravy for the once a monthly church wide breakfast. It was such a hit and our attendance on breakfast Sundays increased and so our worship service on those days increased. I was hoping it was my great preaching, but I knew it was the tomato gravy. When we had dinner on the grounds everyone requested that John make his chicken and dumplings. You could hear people asking one another as they waiting to be served, now which one did John Barclay bring. I don’t care if you had his recipe, it never came out like John Barclay’s. His was always the best!
John ministered to Bala Chitto even though he was unable to come. It was John Barclay that got Patsy Cade to come serve as our pianist when he found out when we didn’t have anyone. And he sent us a good one when he sent us Ms. Patsy and she served faithfully until her death. When I went to visit John, the first thing he wanted to know was how are all the people at Bala Chitto. I think John knew everyone on this side of the county and how they all related to one another. And he always remembered to put a check in my hand for the church when I was leaving.
As I said, his illnesses prevented him from coming to church the last few years, but on Sundays, John had church. He would get up early on Sunday morning, turn on the TV set and watched preaching until the football games came on. Oh, John Barclay liked a good football game.
As I stand here today, I have no delusions of grandeur. I know if Beck and the family could have gotten Jimmy Swaggart, or John Hagee, or John Hagee’s son to do the memorial I would be sitting down there with you guys today. But fortunately for me, they were unavailable. He loved those preachers and many times when I would show up at John’s house, he was sitting watching them on TV.
But I had one advantage over Swaggart and the Hagee’s. I got to personally hear testimonies of John’s love for the Lord on many occasions. And he loved the Lord. A couple of weeks before his death, he was having a good day, so I came over to his home and I wanted to make sure of his salvation. And I left that day with no question in my mind that when death overtook John’s body that day he would be in the presence of God. And that happened on October 14, 2021, after his difficult battle with cancer.
And if you know your Bible it tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:8 to be absent from the body is to be in the presence of God. God tells us John’s death is precious because John now sees God face to face. I cannot think of anything more precious than looking into the face of my Savior, and John is doing that right now.
3 Point #2
JOHN LOVED HIS FAMILY WITH ALL HIS HEART.
Precious is John’s death because he left this world with his family knowing that he loved them with all his heart. He left no doubt that he loved each and every one of you.
Beck, you and John were married September 2nd, 1989. Thirty-two years ago. Ten o’clock in the morning at Silver Creek Baptist Church. I know scheduling a wedding at 10 am you were thinking at that time in the morning not too many people would show up, but you were surprised. You both enjoyed the honeymoon so much; you went ahead and had another one. And that began John’s life of devotion to you. That man really loved you and would do anything you asked him to do. When you got down, it was John who was taking care of you. Beck, after this service is over and you leave this place, you can go home with the total confidence that John Barclay loved Beck Barclay., I hope your grandsons and great grandsons took notice how John treated his wife because he was a great role model for you young people.
You can tell about what kind of father a person was, by where his children are as death is approaching? Are they near by his side or nowhere to be found? Two days before John died, I got a call from the family saying that John is going downhill quickly. So, I made a trip over to John’s house. David was outside cleaning up the place in case people would be coming over. Tim was in his dad’s room giving John his meds and something to drink and before I left Pam had arrived having worked all day and was going to spend the night with her dad. And I am sure if Linda were still alive, she would have been there helping too. And that spoke volumes to me. It said loud and clear that John was a great dad.
He was also a great grandfather. John & Beck have a beautiful home overlooking a great pond. But as all those generations were growing up, they needed something for the kids and so John & Beck put a swimming pool in the yard. John knew a pool is a lot of work, but he loved those children, so it was not going to be a problem. He loved to see the children having a good time.
Becca, your grandfather pushed you through high school. Always checking on how you were doing in school. You got out of school, got a job as a secretary, and realized you needed more. So, John helped you through Co-Lin and now you have a good job, I believe at Southwest Hospital.
Caleb, when your father died, it was John took you under his wing and taught you to be a man. And I know before John died, he asked Tim to keep an eye on you.
Trey, Linda’s son, you would come spend a week during the summer with John and Beck. You and John would hunt, and fish and he always prepared the white potato gravy that you loved so much. I am sure that you had the best of times.
Sarah, I know you put some grey in that hair on his head. But, he was so proud of you when you were able to get everything together. And look at you today, a happily married lady.
Ashley, the banker, he was proud of you. Even named a street after you in the Navilla community.
What I trying to tell you, in just a snapshot, is that John invested his life into his children and all his grandchildren. And so, Jesus if He was walking the aisles of this church, He would be telling it was “precious” how he loved his family.
4 Point #3
PRECIOUS IS JOHN'S DEATH BECAUSE HE TOUCHED SO MANY LIVES ALONG HIS LIFE'S JOURNEY.
The fact that so many of you are here today is evidence that John Barclay touched so many lives. In the years that I had the opportunity to come and meet with John, I admit that he touched my life. I saw a man who was devoted to his family, a man who was loyal to his friends, and a man that was generous to those who had a need.
Tim and David, your dad would take you to the property that he owned in Osyka, and you would hunt for rabbit, squirrel or whatever you could find. When you got something, you skinned it, cleaned it at the river, and cooked it over a pit you made in the woods. During those times, he also taught you about safety in the woods and other common-sense things, but the most important thing is that he was spending time with you making you the men you are today. Today, so many young boys their dad is not in their life, John made it a point to be in your life.
Pam, John may not have seen you as much as Tim am and David. I believe that you live in Destrehan and so you did not get to the house as often as the others. But he loved you just as much. He would always talk with me about how proud he was of you and that you had a fine job in the medical field and how hard you worked taking care of your family.
If you were to ask Mr. Varnado what type of neighbor John Barclay was, Mr. Varnado would tell you that he was blessed with a great neighbor. There were times that Mr. Varnado needed a hand because something had broken at his home, and when those times occurred John was always there for him.
John was a landlord, but it didn’t suit his personality. He could not do the dirty work of telling someone since you did not pay the rent, you have to leave. Many a time when I went to John’s house someone was working, cleaning the house, and John would tell me that he helping that person pay their rent. Thank goodness that John married an enforcer, Beck Barclay, who could do the hard work and tell them you cannot stay if you cannot pay.
John didn’t mind hard work growing up on a dairy, you better be used to hard work. At about age 6, he had to milk the cows before he went to school and days that he was not involved in sports at school, he had to come home and milk the cows. So, John played a lot of sports (maybe so he would not have to do the evening milking), but he played football, basketball, and wrestling. And I heard that he was a pretty good wrestler.
John was a risk taker. At about age 40, John came home and said “I had it working for someone else” and set a year time to set up his own business and having it running well. He worked very hard putting together the plastic milk bottle product that he planned to sell to companies like Borden’s Milk and others in that field. The company took off, and I believe Tim, you own it now.
Let me mention Jimmy Alford. You were a special friend to John. And John would always tell me, I think Jimmy still works for the FBI. I didn’t take any chances, I discontinued him as my pest control person.
If the Lord would be walking the aisle of this church, He would be saying so precious how he cared for others and others were drawn to him.
5 Conclusion
PRECIOUS
If Jesus walked the aisle of this church, he would be telling family and friends, “precious is the death of John Barclay.” Precious because He now sees me face to face; precious because he left a mark of love on his family, and the Bible says Love never fails; and precious because he touched so many lives along his life’s journey and they got to see Jesus in him. Let us pray!
