Saturday, September 08, 2007
Remembering L. C. Lawson, 1914-2007
L. C. Lawson: A Soldier Of The Cross
He was not a member of Tinney Chapel, but he was one of us!
The Word was important to him, so important that he hungered and thirsted for it, motivating him to attend worship services at his own church, Hynson Chapel CME, and his other church, Tinney Chapel UMC.
Hynson Chapel’s twice-monthly worship schedule precipitated his decision to seek The Word elsewhere on alternate Sundays, bringing him to our door: into our sanctuary often and into our hearts forever.
L. C. was buried on September 8, at McGee Cemetery in Winnsboro, after an unforgettable funeral service at his beloved Hynson Chapel, where he had been a Trustee when that church erected a new building in 1957 to replace the original 1896 structure. L. C. served Hynson Chapel in a variety of ways over his long and productive life. He touched other lives by singing in the choir and teaching a Sunday School Class.
He would have loved the way of The Word at his funeral service, described variously as a celebration, a home going and the doorway to a journey.
L. C. was described as a soldier in the opening prayer, which likely referred at once to his service in the U.S. Army during World War II, his service in Winnsboro’s American Legion Post 340 and his never-ending service as a soldier of the cross.
The many Scriptures quoted by five preachers listed on today’s program included Isaiah’s majestic “wings of eagles” reference by Rev. Tommy Shelton of Tranquil Baptist Church. Rev. Duncan Graham, Pastor of Tinney Chapel, quoted the Apostle Paul’s stirring statement from 2 Timothy: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
Rev. Alen Snider, Pastor of Winnsboro First UMC, quoted the Apostle Paul, who beseeches us, in Romans 12, to present our body to God as “a living sacrifice,” and not to be “conformed to this world.” Rev. Snider concluded that L. C. Lawson was immediately recognizable as one of the Kingdom People: “I loved him, and I believe he loved me.”
L.R. Kemp, Commander of American Legion Post 340, asked: “What can we say about L. C. Lawson that is not good? He was always pleasant, always full of love, had a great giggle of a laugh and he will be sorely missed.”
It was Rev. L. C. Bell, Sr. who delivered the primary funeral sermon, describing death as a journey, which he based on Job 16:22 from the King James Version: “When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.”
Rev. Bell emphasized that death is an unavoidable journey, a solemn journey and a solitary journey to an undiscovered country, but that Jesus promises to go with us in death if we go with Him in life. David, in the 23rd Psalm, says, “Thou art with me.”
What should be the great object of life? Rev. Bell closed his sermon with some answers to that question: “If we live well, we are prepared to die well. If we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, He will be with us on our journey from this life to the next life.”
L. C. Lawson would have been the first to smile, and then softly shout: Amen!
