Tribute to Joel Sabella 8-30-13
-Guy BonGiovanni, D. Min.
Thank you, Nancy, Tommy, Randy, Mark, James & Pastor Dennis for this opportunity –and honor - to pay tribute to my friend. This also is “the day the Lord hath made. We will rejoice & be glad in it.”
Joel Sabella epitomized three words: he was an icon of stability, strength, & spirituality, from which the first two virtues derived their energy.
He was a man’s man, a one-of-a-kind, a musician, a manager of managers, & a mentor of leaders and laity.
He was not a reed tossed about by every wind of doctrine; nor was he a rock, insensitive to the feelings of people’s infirmities.
He was never off- the- wall; nor the wall, itself.
Joel was a unique amalgam – a blend of the sacred & the spiritual, ofstrength and sensitivity - who knew how to “be all things to all men” with apassion focused always on their Redemption through Christ. When the issues of life dealt him or his friends a bad hand, with spiritual perception and secular savvy, he “knew how to hold them, when to fold them &when to throw them” in order that he “might win some.”
We never hunted together; never golfed; never attended ball gamestogether. Yet, our bond deepened and our confidence & respect for each other strengthened over more that 50 years of a meaningful relationship. Our deepest concern was the Kingdom of God. Whether in a worship service, or during the start-up of Christianity, a magazine of applied Biblical Truth, in which he served as our Business Manager; or later when he served in the same role while I served as Chairman of the Sharpsville Camp, or at significant moments during our General Conventions – bothamong the people and at the conference table, Joel’s contributions always were sensible, significant & spiritually oriented.
Joel lived by a dualism of leadership that simultaneously often mystifiedthe saints because of his”get’r done!” activism and mesmerized the sinnerbecause he was a sensible man of Faith; but his stance always magnifiedour Lord. He was comfortable in either a secular or religiousenvironment.
When challenges unexpectedly arose, he neither panicked nor found italways necessary to call an emergency prayer meeting. He was there already –by lifestyle. You see, Joel cultivated an inner relationship with the Lord that kept him in touch with the Lord subliminally –beneath the line. You couldn’t see it and wouldn’t know it, except that he facedchallenges always with solid Faith and strong assurance that God would prevail. It gave him the uncanny ability to interact easily with people with or without Faith. And this was the underpinning of his multiple successesin both the religious and secular worlds. He was the consummate Christian business-professional man, living in the world, but not of this world.
Over the years. we met our share of religious extremism and ideas that threatened the church. When something rolled down the religious pike, Joel neither ran after the fads; nor rejected the nuances of Faith. He listened carefully; did his research diligently, made his decisions factually– and it was done! Period!
Scripture is clear that “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Joel would have none of that! The Word of God not only flowed through his mouth during years of teaching the Word, it more importantly coursed incessantly through his mental processes, dominated and coalesced his thoughts, and created attitudinal and relational positionsthat were solid, unbreakable and dependable. He stuck with the Word,stood by the stuff and stabilized the wavering, in times of uncertainty.
Through more than 50 years his Eldership in this Assembly was one of those unmistakable facts, whether or not he was titled or it was told. He just was! It was there – a stable, pervasive strength & stability thatserved as a rock during those painful years of decline, months without pastoral leadership, & seasons of economic uncertainty. Joel sat there, a quiet but visible, stabilizing reminder that victory would come – in both the church and Kiddie Kollege And I’m pleased to declare, it has!
Joel preached no great crusades, wrote no best sellers, constructed no magnificent structures, and erected no monuments to himself. Yet, his legacy is unusual, unmistakable, and unmitigated. Like his father before him, who with his beloved wife, Rita, gave two sons to God’s service, Joel and his sweet, soft-spoken, sociable and strong wife, Nancy, are progenitors of 4 sons whose lives already & significantly have made their marks for Jesus as they carry on their Dad’s tradition of devotion to Jesus & dedication to His Service.
Today, we salute the memory and the mission of this man of God & my dear friend.
If we are listening, his life yet calls out to us –family & friends -as did the Apostle Paul when he wrote: “ Be ye followers of me even as I follow Christ.” If we will, his legacy of stability, strength & spirituality will live on. Our Lord will be honored and His people will be blest.
May it be so!
Good bye, dear Friend. You have done well.
We will see you in the morning.
