A Personal Tribute to Dr. B

On His Birthday

20 April 2008

That I am Interim Pastor in this Church that Dr. B loved so well, and that I have this opportunity to preach one of his favorite sermons on his birthday from the pulpit in which he preached, is unquestionably one of those unique circumstances that only God can arrange. I stand in awe of what God has done for us on this day.

Dr. B was a kind and gentle man who loved people for who they were.

Dr. B was a “people” person, and he made it a point to know everyone’s name. (I’m still working on that!)

To use one of Linda’s favorite metaphors, he was a “balcony” person — a person who stands in the balcony of your life and encourages you and cheers you on to greater achievement, rather than a “basement” person, someone who offers only criticism and doubt about your ability.

Dr. B never sought recognition for himself; he always seemed to give credit for good things to someone else. And he never tried to bring attention to himself.

The great prophet Isaiah, in looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, wrote

“¹Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.

²He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.

³A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

⁴He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on the earth.

In his law the islands will put their hope.” (Isaiah 42:1-4).

Dr. B would be embarrassed and uncomfortable in hearing these words applied to himself, because he was a very modest man. And while he certainly had his faults, as all of us do, these words capture well his gentle, loving, compassionate spirit.

I never heard Dr. B openly criticize anyone else, or raise his voice in anger. [I see smiles here from his family!] But on several occasions I have watched him stand quietly and absorb the anger and scorn of others, wrongly directed to him, without offering any defense for himself at all. And once or twice I asked him, “Why don’t you say something?” And his only reply was, “It isn’t worth it. If I am right, God will defend me.”

And above all else, Dr. B was a friend. He was someone I could talk with. He was someone who was concerned about me and my family. And he was that kind of friend to everyone he knew.

“Come Before Winter” was one of his favorite sermons. After his death in December 2006, his daughter Monica graciously gave me a photocopy of Dr. B’s preaching notes for this sermon, and I am honored and pleased to share it with you this morning.

“Come Before Winter” is based on the closing of Paul’s last letter to Timothy, and we’ll read the passage together in a few minutes. It is a haunting and melancholy text, written from a cold damp prison in Rome by one of God’s most faithful servants, as he anticipates the approaching end of his life. It is a plaintive cry to Timothy to “come before winter,” to accomplish necessary tasks while there is still time, and it echoes in our lives even today. The great power of Dr. B’s sermon is that it translates Paul’s circumstances into our own, and urges us to act now, while there is still time.

“Do your best to come before winter,” Paul writes. Dr. Clarence Edward McCartney, who was pastor of Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia in the early years of the last century, and later pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, preached one of the most powerful and persuasive sermons of this century on this text on October 18, 1915. That sermon so strongly influenced his own congregation that they asked him to repeat it, and he did, preaching it every year for nearly 40 years.

Dr. B knew about Dr. McCartney’s sermon, and his tradition of preaching it every year, because he refers to it in his own sermon notes. In the last few weeks Charlie Harper has graciously shared with me the original text of Dr. McCartney’s sermon, as it appears in one of Charlie’s books, and I have read it closely. Even though the two sermons share the same title, and are based on the same Biblical text, Dr. B’s sermon is of course uniquely his own. I knew that of course even before reading Dr. McCartney. Dr. B brings an urgency, and a vibrancy, to Paul’s plea to “come before winter” that reaches into our own time and our own circumstances. Through Paul’s words, Dr. B urges us to “come before winter,” to respond to the calling of others in our own lives today, before it’s too late.

If you had the pleasure of knowing Dr. B while he was here, you will surely hear his voice in this sermon today. It has his name, his character, his gentle and persuasive spirit written all through it. Close your eyes and listen — you will see his face appear before you! And if you have never had the pleasure of knowing Dr. B, this sermon will tell you more about him than anything I could ever say.

It is my honor and my joy to share Dr. B’s beloved “Come Before Winter” with you.