April 17, 2016

Sidekicks of the Bible

Jonathan (David)

Today we are in week 4 of our sermon series called “Sidekicks of the Bible” where we’ll be looking at the supporting characters of the Bible. When you tell a story there is always a main character that you connect with, but often there is a sidekick that does great things also.

There is often a sense of thinking the main character is important and the secondary character is just filler, but without the secondary character, the main character can’t do what he/she was called to do.

When you look at the “main characters” in the Bible, most people know about Jesus, Moses, David, Joshua, and Paul, but not a lot is talked about with their “sidekicks.”

Jonathan

Jonathan was the son of King Saul and lead a large part of his father’s military. He was a warrior who truly followed God.

1 Samuel 14:6-14
6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
7 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.”
11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” 12 The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.”
So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”
13 Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 14 In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.

So Jonathan was faithful to what God said. He went in very outnumbered and trusted in God to deliver his enemies into his hands.

David

Most of David's life would be classified as a life completely devoted to God. His story starts out as one of the most humble in the Bible. He is a simple shepherd who gets anointed as the future king of Israel. But then in 1 Samuel 17, we see one of the most epic stories ever told. A giant Philistine named Goliath comes down on the Israelite army and challenges their best warrior. Little David ends up killing him and everyone is amazed.

Then we come to the part of the story where David and Jonathan meet and see one of the biggest aspects of what makes Jonathan a great sidekick.

Jonathan HUMBLED Himself to Follow God’s Will

1 Samuel 18:1-4
After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

When they saw what God did through David, Saul was intimidated and cared mostly about self preservation. Jonathan was excited and just wanted to get behind what God was doing. Jonathan then gave David his tunic, sword, bow and belt in a way to bow down to David as the king and military leader.

That takes immense HUMILITY! Jonathan understood that it didn't matter how exactly he fit into God’s story. It mattered to him that God got the spotlight even if it happened through David.

Jonathan Was Incredibly LOYAL to David

Over the next few chapters, Saul tried time and time again to have David killed and Jonathan shows his loyalty to David.

1 Samuel 19:1-5
Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”

Jonathan goes against his father and his king to try and save David. He’s not only willing to sacrifice his birthright as king, he’s willing to sacrifice his life to see God’s will come to fruition.

Again, Jonathan shows that he is a man that thinks “Big Picture.” Jonathan knew that what he was seeing was a small part of what God was doing.

Jonathan Showed COMPASSION For David

Jonathan always showed compassion and mercy to David and really cared about how he was doing.

In the middle of the time that Saul was hunting David down to kill him there is an exchange between Jonathan and David that really shows what kind of a sidekick he was:

1 Samuel 23:15-18
15 While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. 16 And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. 17 “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” 18 The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

While his dad was hunting David down, Jonathan paused and helped him find strength in God. Jonathan knew that David needed the encouragement.

Knowledge and wisdom are great, but when things get truly hard and it looks like everything is going to fall apart, we cant stand on good ideas or good intentions but we can stand on God’s promises. God sees a much bigger picture and when we follow His calling in our lives, He is always victorious.

Communication Card

- I will choose humility in my life: caring more about God’s story than where I fit into it.

- I will look for ways to be loyal and compassionate, seeing the needs of people around me.

- (College Students) I will be here this summer and I want to serve in the following area(s): KidZone First Impressions Administration Mission Teams Media Team