Impact Week Twelve

Review

Last week, we discovered from the life of Solomon some vital things you need when it comes to ruling over God’s chosen people. If you’re wondering how that comes into play for us today, look at the people around you; we are God’s chosen people. It’s no longer about a nation or an ethnicity, but everyone that puts their faith in Jesus Christ. And guess what? We’re just as in need of leadership as Israel was in those days. After a couple thousand years, the church is pretty much the same stubborn and disobedient group of people as those that Moses led out of Egypt.

Permit me for a moment to draw you a picture. I know nothing about architecture, but it is reasonable to understand that every building needs a concrete foundation, the depth of which is determined by the height and width of that building. The larger that building is, the greater the need is for pylons to support it as well. Think of leadership in terms of support.

It’s not just the pastors, the elders or deacons. Those people have the specific calling on their lives to be in that position. But you and I need to live in anticipation of being called on at any moment, not necessarily by our pastor, but by everyday people. Believe me, as you live this life, you will find yourself in need of support. And people, either literally or figuratively, will come knocking on your door. As Sanctus Real, the band, declares “We Need Each Other”. The Body of Christ needs people within it, not just the designated leaders, but all of us, to act like those pylons to hold it together.

God gave Solomon a golden opportunity: he offered Solomon anything he wanted. Solomon didn’t blink (so to speak): he asked for wisdom. God honored that request. He made him the wisest man on the face of the earth from his time unto the end of the world. That means no one, not Plato, Socrates, Gandhi, or any of the great philosophers of the world who ever lived or ever will live, will ever attain the wisdom that God gave to Solomon. You and I still benefit from that wisdom in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. The account that we read from I Kings 3 shows firsthand what Solomon did with the wisdom God gave him. If you truly desire to be that support, to be a leader, then learn from Solomon’s life. Knowledge can only get you so far. But wisdom, as Proverbs 3:14 proclaims, is more profitable than silver.

Background

So it seems we’re going backwards, chronologically. This week we’re talking about Solomon’s dad, King David, and more specifically, his close friend Jonathan. Jonathan is not someone who comes easily to mind. If you think of the great men and women of the Bible, Jonathan falls in-between the cracks. And yet, had it not been for him, David would have never seen the throne. Jonathan is the reason we refer to David, as “King David”. Solomon would never have been born, and hundreds of years later, Jesus would not have been born either.

Jonathan was the son of King Saul and heir to the throne – he was next in line to rule Israel. It’s important to know that King Saul had it out for David. We’ll talk more about Saul and David next week, but suffice it to say, Saul wanted David dead. It’s in the midst of this struggle between David and Saul that we find this story about Jonathan and his integral role in the history of Israel.

Reading: 1 Samuel 20:1-17

End

Interestingly enough, as I was writing the review for last week, I didn’t even realize we’d be looking at Jonathan this week. The application for last week and this week go together quite well. David came to Jonathan in his most desperate hour. The passage that we read doesn’t really begin to account for the relationship these two shared. If you jump back a couple of chapters, you read that Jonathan formed a deep bond with David. I Samuel 18:1 says Jonathan loved David as himself, meaning as much as Jonathan thought and took care of his own needs, he did the same for David. It’s too bad this was written in Hebrew, because if it was written in Greek, I’d be curious to see if the word used for love by the writer would have been agape or phileo,

To explain briefly my train of thought, agape and phileo are both Greek words translated in the New Testament as love. Agape is a self-sacrificing love, the love that God has for us. Phileo is a brotherly love. Its commonplace and you need turn no further than a friend to find it. But the love that I Samuel is talking about has the depth of agape love.

Jonathan put David over his own self. Because Jonathan was the son of Saul, he was next in line to become the king of Israel. Yet Jonathan and Saul both knew that David had been anointed by the prophet Samuel to become the next king (and you don’t have to take my word for it, you can read about it yourself). Never the less, Jonathan befriended David and swore an oath to protect him as long as he lived.

What kind of friend are you? Are you reliable? Can your closest friends call on you at any time? Are you truthful and honest? Can your friends believe what they hear from you? Do they know you at your core, who you really are? Are you loyal? Do you put them above other people, and defend their honor? Do you encourage your friends? Do you build them up when they need support? Are a giver? If your friend is in need of anything, can they look to you? If you lack any of those qualities in your relationships with your closet friends, something’s wrong, terribly wrong.

It’s also important to choose who you associate yourself with carefully. Ask yourself those questions of your closest friends as well. Examine their qualities and habits. There’s nothing wrong with being friends with non-believers. But there is such a thing as a level of friendship. Do your closet friends affect your heart and the choices you make in a positive or negative manner?

When David was in trouble, he knew who to go to. I don’t know about you, but I want to be that sort of person. I want to be reliable, honest, transparent, encouraging, and giving. To bring it into today’s context, one of my best friends (whom we’ll name Yolanda) and I were hanging out playing cards one night. Yeah that’s what old people do for fun I suppose. Anyway, she got a call from her own best friend (whom we’ll name Heather) who was dealing with an issue. Without batting an eye, Yolanda got up from the table and left the room to talk to Heather over the phone. Heather knew exactly who to call – who to turn to in an hour of need. And Yolanda put Heather over me and the others in the room quite simply because Heather needed her in that moment.

I’ve had some pretty flaky friends in the past. Frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever known someone I could rely on quite like Yolanda. It’s not that Yolanda and I are that close at this point or that she knows me that well – we’re relatively new friends – but she is a quality person. That is what I am trying to get across to you, to have those qualities. There is no greater love than that of Jesus Christ. But we can and should strive to exhibit or imitate that self-sacrificing love in our relationships with people. Everyone needs to see real love displayed that comes from the Father.

Memory Verse: Proverbs 17:17

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”