Benjamin R.Williams, son, a grandson, a brother, a husband, a teacher, a counselor , a principal, a father, a grandfather, and a follower of Jesus Christ. He has completed the circle of leaving his mother’s womb, impacting this world, and finally entering into the presence of God. The good news is that when he entered the presence of God, there was a place already prepared for him, because he knew Jesus Christ. He had the assurance from Jesus, in my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you
For those who remain on this side of death, the Bible tells us, there is a time and a season for everything under the sun. The one experience that is common to us all is death. It is as common and as natural as all the other things done under the sun.
The Scriptures tell us that there is a way that seems right to a person, but at the end of it is death. If we are all living in order that we might some day die, it should be of utmost important that we live in such way that in the end our lives would not have been lived in vain.
Everybody here tonight is one day closer to death than they were yesterday. What grade would God give to us on whether or not we’re living in vain. Whether or not we have lived in vain will not be determined by how much we accumulated in terms of material goods, for naked we came into this world, and naked we go out. The mere fact that we have seen some of King Tut’s greatest treasures, is proof the Pharoahs were wrong. “You can not take it with you, no matter how much you love it.”
The only thing that we can take out of this world is what we have given away. For that is how Jesus said to lay up treasures in heaven. If we have not loved and have not invested in others, then our living has been in vain.
The Apostle Paul knew that his life was coming to an end even though he had been a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. He did not become bitter that God did not set him free after he had been unjustly condemned to have his head cut off. Instead he chose to look back over his life.
When he looked backed over his life, he was pleased with what he had seen. He was able to declare in the last book that he wrote, " For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 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." Paul could see that his living had not been lived in vain.
Brothers and sisters I submit to you this day that we are here to celebrate the homecoming of Benjamin Williams Sr. because Benjamin Williams Sr. living has not been lived in vain. His testimony is the same as the Angelic Voices song, “Thank you Jesus, For Lord you brought me a mighty long way.” Those who complain today about being disadvantaged and that is why they are going nowhere in life, should stand up and take notice of the life of Benjamin Williams.
Ben came into this world facing adversity. First he was born two teenage parents. His father was nowhere to be seen as a young child. Second he was born in 1930 in the heart of Mississippi with dark skin. That alone was enough to hold you back if you wanted to be held back because both the white folks and the blacks ones did not expect you to succeed. Third his mother soon left and he was raised by his grandmother who knew the meaning of poverty in a way that many of us never ever could. They had practically nothing as far as this world’s goods are concerned.
But she had love in her heart, and she instilled in Benjamin that family is to be there for you even when everything else goes wrong. But God gave Ben the gift of perseverance and intelligence. He believed that if he was willing to pay the price and get an education, he could make a difference in this world. God brought him from the backwoods of the Mississippi of the 30’s, to being one of the great educators of our time. They might have only seen, a little black negroe, but God was raising him up to make a difference for thousands of his people. Truly God brought him from a mighty long way.
When he finished high school, he showed up at Alcorn State, with no money for tuition, but plenty of determination. He had not played football in high school, but he needed a way to eat, to sleep, and to cover tuition. So he went out for the team and was the only ball headed freshman to start.
When others were running after passes for the love of the game, Ben was running after his next meal to eat. He was determined to get an education. Little did he know that playing sports to make his education his possible would lead to him being installed in the latter years of his life into the Alcorn State Athletic Hall Of Fame for his ability in football, basketball and track.
It was at college, that he first ran into the woman that would mold and shape his life for nearly fifty years. Talking about opposites. There was Ben, quiet, serious and very committed to the books as a junior in college. In comes the lively and lovely Delois, who was more interested in a good time, than she was some Algebra books. Back in those days, they posted your grades on the wall for all to see. Ben came to Delois, to ask her if she had seen her semester grades. Partying Delois, said “why no I haven’t why?” Ben said well I think you ought to go see them. After one look at her grades, Delois knew the partying days had to fade in the background, and from that time forward they both were outstanding students. Love eventually ran its course, and they got married.
I asked Delois, “what was the secret to your being married just 3 months shy of fifty years.” Delois instantly said, “a lot of hard work. Ben was hard to get along with and I was hard to get along with.” I remember the last time Ben spoke at a person’s funeral at the church, and Ben said of the person, “ He was the kind of the person that everybody loved and he was easy to get along with.”
Then Ben said, “ I can tell you right now, nobody is going to say that at my funeral” He and Delois made a commitment to each other to withstand the many battles which life brought their way, and they stood together. For almost 50 years, they stood together. Let’s celebrate with a hand clap for this awesome accomplishment
Delois testimony is that he was good father, a good husband, a man dedicated to making sure the needs of his family were met. One of the things he did that meant so much to her was to encourage her to try to do things she feared and go after goals that she did not think she could reach. When she set her heart on a task, he was committed to helping her reach it. She was his pride and his joy, and he understood that her success was really their success.
Ben deeply love the three children that he and Delois brought into the world and the grandchildren they in turn brought to them. You don’t know what a family vacation is until you have tried it the Williams style. Sometimes Ben would keep it a secret of where they were going and how they were going to get there to build up the suspense. He’d announce the place they were heading and Delois would work out all the details. Their vans and cars have taken them to vacation in 39 of the 50 states. It was there that they took time to strengthen the bonds of love between them.
Never was a father more dedicated to his children than Ben was to his. Their words to describe him were strength, the rock, the one who was there, dedicated, reliable, smart, intelligent, teacher, diligent, courage, faith supportive and encouraging. How many fathers and grandfathers would like to leave this world, knowing this was the legacy he had left behind in the minds and hearts of his kids.
One Friday, Ben, Delois and other family members had a funeral of a family member in Mississippi. After the funeral was over, it was about 6 or 7 and Ben made an announcement to his family. He said, my son Brian will be going on the football filed at Shaker Heights at 1:30 tomorrow I intend to be there were he comes out on the field. He and Delois and a couple of family members headed for Cleveland. I do not advise driving in the manner he did. He dropped Delois off in front of the house and headed for the football field. He got there just in time to see his son come out of the locker room to start the game . When Brian saw his dad’s face his spirits just lifted up. That sight of the smile on his son’s face made it worth it all.
In one game in which the score was tied, and the other team had the ball deep into Shaker territory, “Brian interecepted the pass and ran nearly the length of the field and was tackled just as he was about to score. On that day they discovered that Ben was a fast as his son, because he was running down the side line with his camera getting every shot he could of his son.
If Ben could have been a coach he would have. He was always on the sideline ready with some advice to give. One day though Shaker was playing South and Ben was over with his team from South because that’s where he worked. As he paced the sidelines, his little grandson Ben II who was sitting on the Shaker side, took off like a lightning bolt across the field during the middle of the game to get to his grandfather on the other side.
Those of you who knew Ben Williams as your teacher, or guidance counselor or as your principal, knew that he wanted you to get an education. Some of you are outstanding contributors to society today because your life was touched by this man who saw education as the key to lifting your self above your problems. Don’t feel bad if you ever thought he pushed you too hard. He was the same way on his children. It was his way of saying he cared about you.
His son Brian, had decided to pack all his things, leave college and go back home. With all seriousness, his father presented him with two options for his education. He said, “ you can either go back to school, or I’m going to kill you.” I’m delighted to say that Brian got his degree. There family was one of the most education oriented families I have ever had the privilege of meeting. All of their children became educators as Ben and Delois were, and now their granddaughter is also a teacher. Rarely has one family, so invested themselves in the lives of younger people who have come after them.
Ben was not the kind of person to tell a lot of jokes. About the only time you could really get him to clown around was on the dance floor. Now Delois felt she had two left feet, and only wanted to get on the floor when there was a crowd out there. Not Ben, he didn’t mind to be the first out because he had rhythm that he did not mind demonstrating when he was at parties.
Ben was kind of a paradox. He always poured his money into his family, but his nickname was Scrooge at Christmas time. He complained at Christmas, but every year he gave you what you wanted. You had to tell him what you wanted and he would often take you to get it, so there was no surprise at all involved. He simply was not a gift giver in that sense of the word. But just like the Grinch was touched one Christmas, it happened to Ben, once. Delois said, one very special moment they shared was the Christmas, he surprised her completely by going out on his own, and presenting her with a fox jacket. So she knew the man had it in him, it was just getting it out that was a problem.
There was another side of Ben, that went deep into his heart and was his motivation for life. That part was his relationship to Jesus Christ. Ben was a man of strong conviction with the word of God. He served this church as an elder, a Sunday school teacher, and Sunday School Superintendent.Before Rev. Stennett died, he told Ben, “you are to take my place in teaching the bible.” Ben was a bible teacher for a generation of saints in this church who have gone on to be with the Lord. He was one of the pillars in this church during the period of time in which it was struggling as to whether or not it would have future.
Ben was a person who believed in the gift of life. When his daughter got pregnant and she came to him and Delois, Ben made it clear he felt the life in her was too important to even consider an abortion. He pledged that he and Delois would do whatever was needed for the child. Their daughter gave birth to one of the finest young Christian woman we know. Every father’s day when it came time to give a testimony about fathers, Kamilah boldy stood and declared again and again of how her grandfather had been a father to her. No grandfather, anywhere, has been more blessed by the life of his granddaughter than Ben was by Kamilah.
Through her life, Kamilah said her grandfather would tell her how life was like a pyramid, with foundations, being led upon foundations as you move to the top. One of the greatest moments in her life came when, she was about to graduate from college, and he told her “ you’re ready to reach your peak.” Those words carried more weight for her than the diploma itself ever could have.
No matter how wonderful of a life we have, and even if we live it for the Lord, it begins to wind down. Ben found out in December, that he had cancer and it was spreading through his body. Instead of going into hopeless despair, he allowed his faith in the God who had brought him this far, to bring him even further. He did not let the fear of dying keep him from living. He kept on planting flowers, manicuring the lawn and other hard work. His doctors would say, “you were doing what.” But Ben was not the kind of person to just fall apart. Whatever days or years God have to him, he wanted to make the most of them.
Ben also received a reward on some of his investments. Every night he would read a story to his granddaughters Karimah and Kamaria. Then one night while he was in the hospital, little Karimah entirely on her own came to the hospital with a book. She said, “granddaddy, you always read to us, but this time since you’re in the hospital, I’m going to read to you.”
After going through all kinds of treatment, then came that Thursday in which the doctors told Ben and Delois, “they had done all they could do, but the treatment had failed. There was not much time left. What goes through your mind when you hear something like that? “Oh God why me? Well to show you how even in the midst of sorrow, Ben could think about others. On the way home, he told Delois, stop at the bank. He went into the bank to deposit money for his two little angels Kamaria and Karima to have something for college.
How many of us live as though death is a million years away from us? How many of us pay more attention to what our hair looks like or our stock port folio than we do the condition of our souls which is what ultimately counts. We assume that tomorrow will always be there.
Ben lived with the realization that tomorrow is not truly promised anymore. Now only did he live with it, he accepted it. His courage and his faith insisted, I do not want to go back to the hospital. Do not tie me to a machine to keep me alive. When it’s time to go, let me go with my dignity and my pride right here in my home.
Ben was Ben Williams right up until the end. Pastor Toby and I had visited him a few days before he died. As we were preparing to leave, Pastor Toby, reached over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. As I came toward him, Ben found the energy from somewhere to get his hand from out under the covers to shake my hand. He was not about to have me try to give him a kiss.
Delois knowing that she and her husband did not have much time left together wanted him to know just how much she loved and appreciated him. She told him how grateful she was to have known him How thankful she was to have been his wife. How she was willing to make him comfortable whatever it took? She would be at his side no matter what. After she had completely poured out her heart to her husband lying there in the bed, she asked him. Well Ben, is there anything you want to say. He said yes, “you talk too much.” After she thought about for a while Delois almost laughed herself silly.
Even in his sickness, Ben could declare the faithfulness of God. For with all the things that had gone wrong inside of his body, his doctors expected him to be in great physical pain. But not once did Ben need the pain medication and the pain bills. The last day he spoke to us, he said I feel okay just weak. Delois declared, God has really been good to us through all of this.
A journey that had taken some 49 plus years to navigate together, to struggle together, to dream together and to build together came to an end in a moment of togetherness. With the family in the room around their father and grandfather, as Delois lifted Ben in her arms one last time to make him comfortable with the pillows behind him, Ben gave his last breath and left the arms of his wife and entered into the presence of Jesus Christ.
Many of you were students, co-workers, and friends of Benjamin Williams Sr, and he touched you in very special ways. If more people could live with the kind of love and determination that Benjamin and Delois brought into their home to stay together, if more men could pattern their lives after Benjamin’s life in taking care of their children, and if more people could touch others through encouragement as Benjamin touched, what a different world we’d be living in.
Death is significant only because it marks the end of our opportunity to have an affect upon others for the sake of Jesus Christ But death is not something to be feared, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not die but have everlasting life. “Jesus said, let not your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me. For I go to prepare a place for you. Not only has Christ gone to prepare a place for us, He has revealed to us the road in which we should follow.
Jesus tells us that there are but too roads in this life. One way has a wide gate, is a broad road and that the bulk of people travel upon it, but it leads to death and destruction. He tells us the other road has a narrow gate, is very narrow, and that few people travel upon it, but that it leads to life. Jesus himself is that narrow gate. For he issued a call, "If anyone wants life, let the person deny himself or herself, pick up his or her cross and follow me.” Benjamin Williams Sr. Picked Up his cross to follow Jesus.”
To those who do not know Jesus Christ, Ben Williams Sr. will only be a memory. For those who do know Christ, Benjamin Williams Sr.is waiting to meet us. For the word of God clearly states, " 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 words, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left at the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down form 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 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. Our God is faithful.
