An interesting piece of ecclesial news appeared in The Berean Christadelphian for December 1940. It was submitted by the recording brother of the Houston Ecclesia, J.T. Smith. Here is an extract:
Since last writing we have had the pleasure of visits by Bro. and Sis. Joe Lloyd (of Midland, Texas). Sis. Ella Lloyd (mother of Bro. Joe Lloyd), of Celina, Texas, fell asleep in Christ, July 3, 1940. She had continued steadfast in the faith for which she earnestly contended for 51 years. She dearly loved “the Truth”. Her mind remained alert until she closed her eyes in sleep and rest, to know no more until she is awakened by angels and given the glad news that “the Master hath come and calleth for thee.” She has fought her fight and we feel sure that she will awaken with joy and gladness in her heart, knowing that there is laid up for her a crown of righteousness by him for whose return she so often and earnestly prayed.
We see such news often in The Christadelphian Tidings, as well as The Christadelphian from Birmingham. Given the inevitable end of “all flesh” in this age, such reports are to be expected. For the brotherhood as a whole, these announcements mark the final rest of each believer in Christ. For a moment perhaps, whether we were personally acquainted with each believer or not, we pause in our activities to offer our thoughtful respects to the departed one. Many years ago, the English poet John Donne wrote:
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main… Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.
A death, and a new life
Bro. Smith also reported another event which happened four short days after the first:
Bobbie Joe Lloyd, son of Bro. and Sis. Joe Lloyd, embraced the one Hope while in Houston, July 7, 1940. He has long been a student of the Scriptures and an ardent and uncompromising believer in the “glad tidings” conveyed to fallen man through Scriptures, whereby we may, with God’s help and through His mercies, work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
“Bobbie Joe Lloyd”, the grandson of Sis. Ella Lloyd and only 13 years old, grew up to become Bro. Bob Lloyd, or — as his name appeared under each “Minute Meditation” in The Tidings — Robert J. Lloyd. His life in the One Faith spanned almost 76 years, and along with his grandmother’s life in Faith of 51 years, covered 127 years — all except for four days — between 1889 (the days of covered wagons and Bro. Robert Roberts) and 2016 (the days of space travel and a worldwide Christadelphian brotherhood).
In 1940 my grandmother Sis. Jessie Hatcher was a member of the Houston Ecclesia when Sis. Ella Lloyd died and Bro. Bob Lloyd was “born” in baptism. Sis. Jessie’s daughter Ruth Hatcher also attended the Houston Ecclesia and eventually became Sis. Ruth Booker — and my mother. I still remember them both referring affectionately to little Bobbie Joe, and telling me what a diligent Bible student he was, especially for such a young man. Partly because of his example, I became a Bible student also.
As time passes in the brotherhood, we mark the arrival and departure of many faithful ones. The arrival of new believers, by baptism, is a time of rejoicing for believers, and angels as well (Luke 15:7,10). On the other hand, the departure of other believers, in death, is a time of sadness. Nevertheless, our sadness is mitigated by the knowledge that one more follower of our Lord Jesus Christ has finished the race and kept the faith, and that a “crown of righteousness” could await such a one in the future, when the righteous Judge returns (2Tim 4:7,8).
If we live long enough, we will all experience quite a number of both “arrivals” and “departures”. We might wish for more of the former and less of the latter, but that is not in our hands. We may plant the seed, but we cannot force it to grow in honest hearts, God alone gives the growth: as Paul said “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” (1 Cor 3:6). We may mourn the passing of beloved ones and wish they were still with us, but we cannot turn back the clock, and we cannot prolong the inevitable. Life and death alike are in God’s hands:
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt 6:27).
Bro. Bob saw his grandmother laid to rest, and many other loved ones besides, over many years in the Faith. Now he has fallen asleep in Christ, on December 14, 2015, to be mourned by those he left behind.
We all see many loved ones finish their courses. We pause to remember, and to pay our loving respects. Then we continue our journey, through the vast wilderness which is our world, on our way to the Promised Land.
A great exodus
One of the great mass exoduses in human history occurred in the years between the end of the American Civil War and the last years of the 19th century. It was a span of only 30 years. The great western migration of hundreds of thousands of Americans started from states like New York and Ohio and Pennsylvania. These people were bound for Texas and Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico, California and Oregon.
But the movement of pioneers across the vast and sometimes brutal mountains and deserts of North America was far from easy, and not without its losses. Attacks by hostile Indians, starvation, accidents, and illnesses took their toll on these pilgrims. Many never reached their destinations. They died along the way, and they died in such numbers that chroniclers of that time and that trek have noted an extraordinary fact: After the first few years, no markers or guides were needed to show the path westward. The main trails were clearly marked, not by signposts and direction indicators, but by graves. ‘Follow the line of graves westward, keep going, and you will reach your destination.’
We might say the same thing about our travels “on the way” to the Promised Land. Follow the markers set up for you; walk in the ways of those who have gone before. Follow the paths of the sheep who follow the Great Shepherd, and you will not go wrong. Take note of the direction they were traveling even as they breathed their last, and died “along the way”. Our memories of them, their lives and their words, strengthen and encourage us to continue. They remain, even in death, a “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1).
Keep their examples before your eyes, and press on, “farther along” that same trail. You are bound for the glorious land and the city which our LORD God has chosen for His people. If you survive to reach that place, then you may rejoice. But if you, like so many others, die short of your final destination, you may rest in peace, with the sure knowledge that you will be there too.
BroA. Bob’s last meditation
In his last “Minute Meditation”, which appeared in the January 2016 issue of The Tidings, Bro. Bob quoted 1 Thess 4:16-18:
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (ESV).
Whether we are alive or dead when the Lord Jesus returns, we have this assurance: that he will come to claim his own. No matter when or where we start our individual journeys, no matter when or where those individual journeys come to an end, we will all — living and dead — stand in his glorious presence. Those elect ones who are alive in that day will be called together to meet him, while at the same time those who have died before his return will rise from their graves, also to stand in his presence.
We are all — living and dead — his special treasure, the sheep who hear his voice. We are all precious to him, as he is to us. And if we do not forget him, he will never forget us. He tells us:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me… I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:1,6).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One