"Three of the thirty
chiefs came down to David at the cave of Adullam ... [while] the
Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and said,
"Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well
near the gate of Bethlehem!" So the Three broke through the
Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem
and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he
poured it out before the Lord ... Because they risked their lives to
bring it back, David would not drink it."
1 Chronicles 11:15-19
This weekend was incredible! Friday evening the Portland family
celebrated the wedding of "Groovy" Paul Grover and our
awesome sister, Karen Murphy. Saturday morning the First Principles
class met. During this our second-to-last class entitled "World
Missions," we studied Acts 16-21. Saturday evening the Latin
Ministry hosted a Spanish-language Men's Forum and a Women's
Leadership Conference. I heard from several disciples that Sabastian
and Sarai Serra of Denver, our guest speakers, gave outstanding
lessons. At the beginning of our Sunday service, as a send-off for
Brad Childs, who will be stationed in the Middle East, we prayed for
Brad to be strong and sang to him "We Love You with the Love of
the Lord."
At the close of service Britnee Harmon, a dear sister with Cerebral
Palsy, shared and baptized Jessica Hutchinson, a freshman at PSU. Then
in tears, Denise Alvarez was restored through the loyal friendships of
Michelle Winn and Marcia Bertalot. Immediately afterwards, Denise was
blessed to baptized her fourteen year old daughter Sabrina!
The weekend was all the
more special as Ted and Cathy Green of Tampa, Florida and Michael Hart
of the Curacao Island of the Caribbean attended all the weekends'
activities to learn and return home to share with their congregation.
Also visiting this weekend were two of Elena's and my very dear
friends from Boston, Valdur and Irene Koha. The Koha's were baptized
through the efforts of our neighborhood Bible Talk in the
mid-eighties. Saturday afternoon Nick Bordieri gave the Kohas a tour
of the International Headquarters of Nike. There, Valdur was able to
glimpse a statue of Steve "Pre" Prefontaine of the
University of Oregon and Munich Olympics lore. "Pre" is one
of Valdur's heroes. Valdur gave a moving communion talk on Hebrews 12
entitled, "Running the Race." (Valdur and Irene initially
met as world class runners for Germany.) Valdur paralleled the
Christian life to running a marathon. He shared in running a marathon,
"You run, sometimes you may walk, but never, never stop!"
The entire congregation, even those of us who do not run marathons,
got the point!
Valdur and Irene's
friendship throughout the years inspired me to preach on loyalty for
Sunday's sermon series on 1 Samuel. The title of the lesson was
"We Happy Few" from Shakespeare's Henry V. My first point
was "Loyalty to God's Royalty." In 1 Samuel 22 David was
alone in the cave of Adullam. First, his family came to him. Then 400
men who were "in distress or in debt or discontented gathered
around him." It was also evident from the text that the passion
of David's heart was "to learn what God would do with him."
Then we cross-referenced 1 Chronicles 11:15-19. Here at the
"stronghold of Adullam," the "three mighty men"
bring David "water from the well...of Bethlehem." The
distressed, in debt and discontented had become "the mighty
men!" A lonely cave became a stronghold! At Adullam, David
"poured out [the water] before the Lord." David would not
drink it "because they risked their lives to bring it back."
I preached men must first be loyal to God, then they must be loyal to
men who are loyal to God. Calling upon his men's fierce loyalty, Henry
V rallied his exhausted soldiers against the powerful French army at
the battle of Agincourt in 1415. In Shakespeare's play, Henry inspired
his overwhelmingly outnumbered men to victory with the words, "We
few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his
blood with me shall be my brother." Most who visit the Portland
Church are blown away by our intense loyalty to God and to one
another. Fifteen months ago we were "the distressed, in debt and
discontented" but God is discipling us into "mighty men and
women" who love God and are willing to die for each other.
My second point came
from 1 Samuel 30, "The Fragility of Loyalty." Here David and
his army of 600 men have been sent home to Ziklag by the Philistine
generals, disappointed they could not fight the Israelites. (God used
this disappointment to stop David and his future subjects from
fighting.) Upon returning to Ziklag, they find their wives, children
and possessions have been carried off by the Amalekites. Then, we read
in 1 Samuel 30:16, "David was greatly distressed because the men
were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of
his sons and daughters. But David found strength in God."
How shocking, the
closeness and camaraderie of the stronghold of Adullam was suddenly
shattered by evil. The soldiers in bitterness blamed David and wanted
to kill him! Yet David found strength in God. In healing the Portland
Church during our Evening of Atonement, we coined a phrase often heard
in our fellowship, "Bitterness is understandable, but totally
unacceptable!" Bitterness is an insidious sin that simultaneously
destroys faith, grace and loyalty upon which relationships in the
church must be built.
The last point was from
1 Samuel 31, "The Nobility of Loyalty." Here noble Jonathan
dies for Israel fighting side by side with his father, Saul. Given
Saul's murderous actions against Jonathan and his best friend David,
most men would have hated their dad for life. However, by fighting and
dying, Jonathan trades an earthly throne (for he was to succeeded his
father) for a heavenly one. Later the "valiant men of Jabesh
Gilead" retrieve the bodies of Saul and his sons from the
Philistine wall of Beth Shan. Though "Saul died because he was
unfaithful to the Lord" (1 Chronicles 10:13), the men of Jabesh
Gilead remembered and were forever grateful for the good of Saul. Saul
had saved Jabesh Gilead by rallying all Israel as recorded in 1 Samuel
11. Then we concluded in 2 Samuel 1 with David's noble lament for Saul
and Jonathan, "In life they were loved and gracious and in death
they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles; they were
stronger than lions...How the mighty have fallen in battle."
To be a unified people,
we must be loyal friends to God, loyal friends to godly leaders and
loyal friends to one another. This principle holds true for a Bible
Talk, a congregation or a world-wide fellowship. Portland brothers and
sisters, let us hold our loyalty to our Father and each other as
precious, now that we know from the events of the past two years that
it is oh so fragile! Then and only then shall we be a "happy
few."
Kip McKean
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