Have you lost someone very close to you?

 2 Samuel 1:17-27

Have you lost someone very close to you not a family member but a friend, a very close friend?  I have, it was my very first mentor Jack Archer, he was a mess, but he also was a mighty man of God, whose heart was about making sure the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to the under-resourced people of Mexico and elsewhere.  I could tell you about how he played football at TCU and later got the name of dry-hole Jack in the oil field, till one day he hit the big one and became a millionaire.  Those are facts, but they do not tell about the man who showed a foolish young salesman that God loved him in spite of his many stupid mistakes.  I loved Jack Archer!

Then there was Carroll Ray Jr. who introduced himself to me in a letter he copied me on.  The letter was to his dad, a godly man and a preacher, it told how this group came to Burleson First Baptist, and they were all lay people. And this guy who spoke on Sunday butchered the King’s English got passed his preacher filter, and the Holy Spirit used him to share how one could quit being religious and enter into a personal relationship with Christ, I was that speaker. 

Carroll and I became the best of friends, in fact, he became over time my mentor, and God put a love in our hearts for each other, and Carroll showed me how to love my wife as Christ loved the Church, something I had not been able to do.  Carroll was a CPA and a Vice President for the Tandy Corp. when we first met, but God used that man as an adult teacher and a mentor to many men.  We traveled all over together, how I miss those long talks about life, about family, about letting God do it all for us.

Then there was Ken Ryan, my last mentor, and Ken was a mighty man of God, loved to be part of a man’s life and teach them how to allow Jesus to lead them, and walk in a way that would honor His name.   Ken was very serious about living the Christ life, and would often ask me if I believed what was written in the Bible.  My reply was 100% and then I knew what was coming, then why do you not do what it tells you to do?  I loved Ken, but on those days I did not like him very much, he left me nowhere to hide.  After his wife Joyce died we became closer, we often talked about how big our God was and that He was all we needed, Ken was a dear brother, I miss his wise counsel.

I told you all of that to say that I understand what David is feeling for Jonathan, I have a hard time understanding his relationship with Saul, who wanted him dead.  I believe David had such a great understanding of being anointed by God and knew that Saul had been and knew that God also had picked him and anointed him, and was sure that only God had the right to remove the one he had anointed.

So we have this very long lament that David has commanded all Judahites everywhere to learn.  It is honoring both Saul and Jonathan as warriors and the king as a great provider.  But then he gets very personal about his relationship with Jonathan, and in verse 26, “I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.”  This speaks to an unbreakable bond of friendship between men that has been witnessed much over time and history.

My prayer is that you have a Jonathan who knows you are a rascal and a mess but loves you for the Christ that he sees living in you.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice