EULOGY FOR JOHN WASHINGTON SWAILS, JR.
Sylvia, Johnny, Joe, and Jim--I am honored to be here today to share some remarks about John W. Swails, Jr. Over the past few years we have all discussed this day and knew it was inevitable, but I still dreaded to see it come. When Brother Swails asked me to speak and sing at his funeral, I could not say no. There are probably in this auditorium today many who could speak more eloquently and officially about him, but I assure there is no one who loved him more than I. As we stand here in the John W. Swails Center, I am grateful that we were able to complete this facility and dedicate it to him before he died. Too often we wait to recognize someone until he is gone. I remember his being here for the dedication of this building and then giving the Commencement Address to the first graduating class to march across this stage. That was special.
As I thought about his life, I remembered the words of Genesis 25:8 spoken about Abraham: Genesis 25:8 (The Message) "Abraham lived 175 years. Then he took his final breath. He died happy at a ripe old age, full of years, and was buried with his family."
The New American Standard Bible (NASB) gives this translation: "Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people."
Several years ago when Glenda Swails went on to heaven, I related her passing to that of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who had served her generation well as a leader, wife, and mother. In the same train of thought, when I think of John Swails, I am reminded of the many qualities of Abraham, the Father of Israel. What a testimony we read in Genesis 25:8 that Abraham died happy at a ripe old age, was satisfied with his life, and was gathered to his people. The same words could be said of John Swails; no greater legacy could be written.
During the Renaissance in England Sir Thomas More was the Medieval “Man for All Seasons.” He was remembered for his versatility, intellect, wisdom, and dignity. Sir Thomas More was a man true to his religious convictions and would not waver even in the face of execution. The International Pentecostal Holiness Church has also been blessed to have a “Man for All Seasons” for many years. There has never been anyone like John W. Swails, Jr. and there is not likely to be another. For several generations of Emmanuel College students, he has been considered the ultimate theologian, consummate authority on the Scriptures, beloved professor, and ideal Christian example. For over 60 years he continued to influence the International Pentecostal Holiness Church through his unshakable confidence in the power of the Word of God, his impeccable character, his unequaled knowledge of the Bible, his undeniable ability to expound upon the truths of Scripture, and his unique, humble personality.
When we think of the rewarding, fruitful, and enduring life of a giant in the faith, we are reminded that there are three questions all of us need to ask ourselves before we move on to our eternal home. These questions include “Who am I?” “What am I here for?” and “What am I going to leave behind when I leave this world?” In the case of Abraham, and John Swails, there were six aspects I want to highlight for us today as we celebrate the extraordinary life of this larger-than-life spiritual icon who lived among us for 94 years.
First, early in life he made a life-changing decision to follow God. Like Abraham, John Swails took the road less traveled, the path that God chose for him. He trusted God regardless of the hardships, disappointments, and challenges that path led. In the early part of the twentieth century the fire of Pentecost spread from Topeka, Kansas, to Azusa Street, across America to the backwoods and farmlands of the South, and men like G. F. Taylor, J. H. King, T. L. Aaron, Paul F. Beacham, T. O. Evans, Dewey Yeatts, T. A. Melton, J. A. Synan, H. Padgett Robinson, W. J. Nash, and many others began to experience a power and anointing they had never known. Included in that number was John W. Swails, Jr. Born in Andrews, South Carolina, November 26, 1915, John was the tenth of 15 children born to John W. Swails, Sr. and Minnie Kellahan Swails. When John was three years old, his mother died of influenza, and his father moved the family to an 80-acre farm in the Puncheon Creek Community.
As a boy, John learned the meaning of hard work on the farm, and by the time he entered the fifth grade he was needed full-time on the farm. He quit school and devoted all his time to helping his family. In the month of May, 1932, his uncle W. T. (Bud) Swails from Rockingham, North Carolina, came to hold a three-week revival in the community, and John Swails, Jr. received Christ into his heart and life. No doubt God had been dealing with him, for immediately he began to read and study the Bible, even placing an old, worn-out Bible on the plow brace so he could read while tilling the fields. He later modestly estimated that he had probably read through the Bible 10 times in the three years following his conversion. He began to memorize countless Scripture passages and astounded friends by giving them the exact book, chapter, and verse from a Scripture they would begin reciting. The more he read and prayed, the more he realized that God was calling him to preach!
The family knew something was changed. His sister, Ethel, recalls that soon after his conversion he took some paint and a paint brush, climbed the ladder on the side of the barn, and wrote in big letters, “Positively No Smoking!” No doubt he got sanctified, too! Amid our twenty-first century glitz and glamour, entertainment-crazed, sports-fanatical, materialistic, technology-driven society, let us not forget that God still must deal with the sin issue in our individual lives and raise up kingdom warriors like John Swails and others who answered the call during the rebirth of Pentecostalism. Methods and ministry may change, but the Message does not. After Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were gone, there arose a generation that knew not God or His laws. Thank God for men like John W. Swails, Jr. who answered the call and, like Elisha, dropped the plow and followed God.
John began preaching at the age of 16, wherever he could find someone to listen. With his overwhelming desire to learn more about God’s Word and about life, he tried several times to enroll in Holmes Bible College but at first was turned down because of a lack of formal schooling. However, due to a surprise vacancy from a last-minute no-show, in 1935 the school allowed him to enroll. He excelled in every way, completing his high school and Bible School requirements in 1941. Graduating from Holmes Bible College was just the beginning. He earned the Bachelor of Arts degree from Newberry College in 1944, the Master of Divinity at Lutheran Southern Theological Seminary in 1946, and the Master of Arts degree in history at the University of Oklahoma in 1951. A lifelong student, he later earned 26 hours of post-graduate hours at the University of Georgia. An avid reader and studious intellectual, over the years he has set the impossible example to follow with regard to knowing and interpreting the Word of God.
Second, he has left a legacy of faith. Of Abraham it is said, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went…. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” More than any other man I know, John Swails walked out his faith day by day. Brother Swails, as he was so often addressed, will always be Brother Swails to many of us who worked with him or have known him for many years. Somehow we could never bring ourselves around to addressing him by his first name. He was too respected, too revered, too loved for that. He never aspired to greatness in the educational, theological, political, or denominational world. He was who he was, and that was all that mattered. As teacher, pastor, colleague, and friend, he was Brother Swails. His humility, his loyalty, his unwavering confidence in God, and his Godly example through the years have all endeared him to ourselves and have caused us to want to follow in his footsteps and to emulate the tremendous example of faith he has been. He was who he was, always was the same, and did not change. That is what we admired about him. He was a man of unfailing faith.
Third, like Abraham, John Swails lived a lifetime of obedience. Finding out what God has called us to do is not that difficult. That’s the easy part. We just don’t want to do it! Being obedient and submissive to His call is the hard part. Obedience is better than sacrifice. John Swails lived a long, fruitful life because he was obedient to the call of God, following the leading of the Holy Spirit wherever the road took him. He was a faithful pastor in the International Pentecostal Holiness Church for 40 years, at first pastoring churches in the South Carolina Conference of the Pentecostal Holiness Church while going to school. During his studies at Newberry College, he would go to Camden, South Carolina, some distance away. Since he had no car, he would ride the bus and then walk several miles to get to the church to preach on Sundays. He was obedient to the call.
On September 16, 1946, he married Glenda Mae Baldwin at Matthews Tabernacle Pentecostal Holiness Church in Lake City, South Carolina, and over the next few years they served the Elgin and Hamlet Pentecostal Holiness Churches in South Carolina. Their eldest son, John W. (Johnny) Swails III, was born in 1948 at Hamlet. While pastoring was dear to his heart, John Swails also had a tremendous love for learning, teaching, and Christian higher education. In 1948 he moved his young family west when he accepted a teaching position at Southwestern College in Bethany, Oklahoma, where he remained for three years and saw the arrival of a second son, Joseph B. (Joe) Swails.
Another significant call came in 1951 from Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia, to come to teach Bible, Christian Ministries, and social studies. Although he could have chosen to pastor large churches in Oklahoma, John felt led to take a meager salary and devote his life to Emmanuel College, where he remained on the faculty from 1951 to 1982. While teaching at Emmanuel, he also pastored the Elberton Pentecostal Holiness Church from 1953 to 1956. His youngest son, James R. (Jim) Swails, was born in 1953. Next, Brother Swails served as pastor of the Royston Pentecostal Holiness Church from 1956 to 1959. After he was asked to establish the Emmanuel College Church in 1959, that congregation consolidated with the Franklin Springs Pentecostal Holiness Church, where he continued to pastor while teaching at Emmanuel until 1982. Brother Swails’ pastoral ministry concluded with his moving to pastor the Stephenson Avenue Pentecostal Holiness Church in Savannah, Georgia, in 1985. In every situation he was obedient to the call of God and served sacrificially.
Fourth, like Abraham, John Swails loved his family. He got somewhat of a late start but made up for it with three outstanding sons who have made him proud. I told Brother Swails on a number of occasions that he was partly to blame for my life at Emmanuel College. He and my dad became close friends in the 1940s after Dad answered the call to preach and moved to the South Carolina Conference. Before John married Glenda Baldwin, my dad, who had gotten his pilot’s license, would take him up in a small Piper Cub and fly over Glenda’s house and wave the wing to her as she watched. The plan must have worked; John and Glenda were married shortly after that. Not long after Brother Swails moved to Franklin Springs to teach at Emmanuel, he came to Conway, South Carolina, where my dad was pastoring, to hold a revival. Dad had not been to college and felt limited in his ministry for that reason, and while there, Brother Swails convinced him that he needed to enroll at Emmanuel. So with three teenage boys and no funds, Dad resigned his church and moved to Franklin Springs. Johnny, Joe, and Jim were a little younger than we were, but our families grew close during those years.
God honored John Swails’ desire to have a family, and through the years we observed how close they were. Unlike many ministers, he did not neglect his family. He poured into those boys the Truth of God’s Word, set high standards, and loved them dearly. As students at Emmanuel, we watched Brother Swails as he related to his family. Johnny, Joe, and Jim were growing up during those years, and the Swails family was an inspiration to all the students. And, you know, years later we still see Brother Swails in all three of his sons. A laugh, a facial expression, a scholarly comment, a humble spirit, or a compassionate act from one of them lets us know that Brother Swails still lives. Like Abraham, he has left a lasting legacy of love, sacrifice, devotion, and integrity for his children, nine grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren. He loved every one of them openly and obviously, spending as much time as he could with them.
I asked Johnny, Joe, and Jim to comment on one special aspect of their dad’s life that they could highlight. Dr. Johnny Swails immediately replied, “He instilled in me a love for the Word of God. He loved the Bible, and growing up we witnessed his untiring study of and meditation on the Word.”
Joe Swails remembered a situation that occurred when he was 16 years old. He had borrowed the family car (a small Corvair) to go to Royston, and while he was there, a rain shower came. Driving on Highway 29 in front of the Ty Cobb Memorial Hospital, as an inexperienced driver Joe said he took his eyes off the road for a second not realizing that a car in front of him was stopped to turn left. When he looked up, it was too late. He hit the brakes, and on the wet pavement the car skidded right into the back of the vehicle in front. The accident caused quite a scene, someone went to find Brother Swails, and Joe stood dazed in the rain. In a few minutes his dad arrived and put his arm around Joe’s shoulders.
“Are you okay, son?” he calmly asked.
“Yes, Dad, I think so," Joe replied. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it.”
Brother Swails continued to console his son, “The important thing is that you are all right. Are you ready to go home?”
A person nearby observing the two, mentioned to Brother Swails, “Boy, you sure are calm. If I had done this, my dad would be mad as a hornet. He would chew me out good!”
Brother Swails simply said, “Right now he doesn’t need an enemy; he needs a friend.”
Dr. Jim Swails recalled the last few days of his dad’s life when it was apparent that he would not live much longer. “All of a sudden I had an overwhelming sense of thanksgiving and gratitude to God for giving us Dad for 94 years. I could not have been more blessed in life than to have a father like him.”
John Swails loved his family, and when in 2006 he lost Glenda, his wife of almost 60 years, he felt sad and alone. Within a year, God brought his second wife, Sylvia Williams, into his life, and they were married on August 5, 2007. A devoted and loving wife, Sylvia brought sunshine back into his days as they shared their lives and traveled to places like Hawaii and Virginia Beach to be among friends and alumni of Emmanuel College. He was blessed with a remarkable family.
Fifth, like Abraham, John Swails has left us a lesson in total commitment to God. There is no doubt that Brother Swails walked with God day by day. Whatever tasks or challenges lay ahead each day, he spent time with God first. We watched intently his life of devotion and dedication that shouted loudly, “I want my life to count more than work or accumulating goods.” He didn’t have much materially, but he knew that God would supply his needs, even when his family had to go without and live in substandard accommodations. He never doubted his Lord.
Like many of you here today and others around the world, I sat spellbound under his teaching. In the days before overhead projectors, PowerPoint, and computers, we sat in his religion classes and watched him fill up with notes literally every inch of space on a large blackboard at the front of the classroom. I still have some of those notes. In other cases he would give us page after page of mimeographed notes he had typed in non-stop stream-of-consciousness style on legal-sized pages with no margins, just words all over the page from top to bottom. I still have some of those notes, too. He could quote many verses, chapters, and entire books of the Bible without hesitation. He was always reading, studying, and exploring various principles of God’s Word. His knowledge of history and government also went far beyond the Bible, and he taught numerous history classes as well as American Government. One question he asked in American Government class has stayed with me through the years. He asked, “How many of you think honesty is the best policy?” Of course, all the hands went up. “No,” he added, “honesty is not the best policy. It is the only policy.” That statement summarized his view on government and life.
He was committed to God, to his family, to Christian education, and to his church. I had the honor and privilege to serve with him as his associate pastor in the 1970s when he was pastoring the Franklin Springs Pentecostal Holiness Church. Those were special years for me as I watched his quiet servant leadership and compassionate spirit at work. He could say more accidentally than most of us ever will be able to say intentionally. I remember most our early morning prayer times and discussions over coffee that followed. We would go to the men’s prayer breakfasts on Sunday mornings, and something in the devotion or discussion would trigger some new thoughts in his head. We’d see him begin scribbling some notes on a napkin or paper. Within the next hour or two he would have a new sermon for the 11:00 am service. And he was willing to entertain new ideas as well. What really impressed me was the fact that he never stopped learning. His position on certain issues would sometimes be modified as he continued to squeeze everything he could out of a Scripture. We listened intently on numerous occasions as he expounded upon a particular verse and never doubted for a moment the authority and authenticity of his words. We knew he was right. No debate; no question about it!
Finally, like Abraham, John Swails has left a longstanding investment. As we grow older, all of us begin to ask the question, “What am I leaving behind?” I am told that my generation has accumulated and passed on to their children more stocks, bonds, real estate, trusts, and cash than any previous generation has done. However, John Swails has left a far more significant investment in the lives of countless numbers of young men and women and Christians around the world. He poured more than material things into the lives of others. He invested his time, abilities, gifts, and wisdom into lasting relationships that will continue throughout eternity.
The longer I live, the more I realize that John Swails had life figured out. He knew what Micah 6:8 meant: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” He enjoyed life to the fullest. He relished catching a fish, watching his cat play in the yard, or hearing a good story from one of the boys about their shenanigans growing up. And he loved going to Israel. He went many times. I remember hosting a trip one year with him. We were baptizing people in the Jordan River, he found a nice spot to stand void of rocks, and every time we put someone under I stepped in a hole and went down with him or her. I said to him, “Brother Swails, can you step back just a little so I won’t step in that hole?” Well, he had a good smooth spot for his feet, and characteristic style, he looked at me and simply replied, “No!” I just kept going under.
Whether in the classroom, in the pulpit, or in the home, John Swails was as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. He consistently demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit, the character of Christ, in his daily walk with God. There are so many other memories I could share with you, and I am certain there are many in the auditorium who could testify about his unfailing influence upon your lives, but my time is limited and I must conclude.
On Sunday morning, June 7, 1891, in poor health and exhausted, Charles Spurgeon preached his last sermon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. The last words of this powerful preacher in that final sermon were as follows: “These forty years and more have I served Him, blessed be His Name! And I have nothing but love from Him. I would be glad to continue yet another forty years in the same dear service here below if so it pleased Him. His service is life, peace, joy. Oh, that you would enter on it at once! God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even this day! Amen!” These words reminded me so much of John Swails, his life and ministry. His life was a beacon for us, a shining example that living the Christian life to the fullest is possible in this world of hate, evil, and disappointment. His quiet, unassuming service to God was truly an inspiration to all and the epitome of how Christ taught us to live. The death of John Swails Jr. is the end of an era. Early in life he made his decision to follow Jesus; he left a legacy of faith and a lifetime of obedience. He loved his family and his church. He left us a lesson in dependence upon God and a longstanding investment in the lives of countless numbers of people.
As we see in Genesis 25:8, no funeral eulogy was necessary for Abraham. He had already preached his funeral by the example he set. The same is true for John Swails, “He breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.” Glory to God in the highest!