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The scripture reading of the morning is from the second book of Samuel, the 13th chapter. I begin at the verse numbered one. "Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and after a time Amnon, David's son, loved her. And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his

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sister Tamar, for she was a virgin and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimea, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man. And he said to him, 'O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?' Amnon

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said to him, 'I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.' Jonadab said to him, 'Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill, and when your father comes to see you, say to him, "Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat and prepare the food in my sight that I may see it and eat it from her hand."' So Amnon lay down

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and pretended to be ill, and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, 'Pray let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight that I may eat from her hand.' Then David sent home to Tamar saying, 'Go to your brother Amnon's house and prepare food for him.' So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's

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house where he was lying down, and she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes. And she took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, 'Send out everyone from me.' So everyone went out from him. Then Amnon said to Tamar, 'Bring the food into the chamber

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that I may eat from your hand.' And Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, 'Come lie with me, my sister.' She answered him, 'No, my brother, do not force me, for such a thing is not done in

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Israel. Do not do this wanton folly. As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the wanton fools in Israel. Now therefore I pray you, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.' But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he forced her and lay with her.

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Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, 'Arise, be gone.' But she said to him, 'No, my brother, for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other which you did to me.' But he would not listen to

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her. He called the young man who served him and said, 'Put this woman out of my presence and bolt the door after her.' Now she was wearing a long robe with sleeves, for thus were the virgin daughters of the king clad of old. So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her, and Tamar put ashes on her

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head and rent the long robe which she wore, and she laid her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went. And her brother Absalom said to her, 'Has Amnon your brother been with you? Now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother. Do not take this to heart.' So Tamar dwelt a desolate woman in her

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brother Absalom's house. And when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar. After two full years, Absalom had sheep shearers at Baal Hazor, which is near Ephraim. And Absalom invited all the

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king's sons. And Absalom came to the king and said, 'Behold, your servant has sheep shearers. Pray let the king and his servants go with your servant.' But the king said to Absalom, 'No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you. He pressed him, but he would not go, but gave his blessing. Then Absalom said, 'If

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not, pray let my brother Amnon go with us.' And the king said to him, 'Why should he go with you?' But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. Then Absalom commanded his servants, 'Mark when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, "Strike Amnon," then kill him. Fear not,

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have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.' So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose and each mounted his mule and fled." And may God bless to us and to our understanding this reading from his word. Pray with me.

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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Once upon a time long ago in a land far away, a sad series of events transpired. I would like to share that sad series of events with you now. Amnon was the son of a king, King David. He was born to the purple and he had all the rights and

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privileges attendant thereto. He was an aggressive young man and as so often happens with young men, his thoughts turned to thoughts of love. Not really love, it was lust, but that will become more evident as the story transpires. Specifically, he wanted his half-sister Tamar. That was not against the law in

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those days for a brother and sister, half-brother, half-sister to be married. It was not against the law as it is in our own time. But he didn't want her to marry her. He wanted her as a sexual partner and nothing more. He wanted her so much that he became physically ill with desire. Now it so happened that a

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member of his retinue recognized the signs of illness upon him and asked him what the difficulty was. And Amnon told his desires to Jonadab. What does the Bible say of Jonadab? It says that Amnon had a friend named Jonadab and he was a very crafty man. Jonadab immediately displays his cleverness by suggesting a

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plan to Amnon. "Are you not the king's son?" he says. "Can your will be so readily frustrated? I mean, is it not within your power to cause things to work together in such a way that you will gain your goal? For example, why not invite the girl to your apartment to prepare you something, to cook for you some sweet

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cakes because you are sick, and then order those who are in attendance upon you to leave, and when they have gone, force yourself upon her." This is what Jonadab suggested and this is exactly what Amnon did. Tamar was evidently a very sweet and compliant girl. She came at her brother's request. She was wearing

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the robe of a virgin worn by the daughters of the king in that time. She fixed the cakes with her own hands. When he ordered people out of his apartment so that they were alone, she showed no signs of fright. When he asked her to bring them and serve them to him in his bedchamber, she complied with his wishes,

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and then he proposed that they sleep together. And her response at this time is interesting because she does not break forth into anger or into cries of despair and dismay, but rather she says, "Do not do this foolish thing. This is very unwise. If you will ask our common father, David, to have my hand in

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marriage, he will give it to you." There may have been, you see, in this Tamar some love for Amnon. At least she was willing to suggest that they might be legally and properly married. But he wasn't interested, as I said, in marrying her. And even though she pled with him, he raped her and then ordered her driven

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from his presence. Her shame upon her, she goes out with her clothes torn, wearing sackcloth and ashes. And all of this happens because Amnon had a friend named Jonadath. Now I will gladly acknowledge the importance of friendships. From the most simple to the most sophisticated, we all understand that we need friends. I

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read about a man named Howard Maxwell who lives in Los Angeles, and he has a little girl named Melinda who's four. And she has become quite attached to the story of the three little pigs. And so she brings it every night for her daddy to read it to her, and he got tired of reading it, so he put it on a tape

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recorder. And he taught her how to use the tape recorder, which worked fine for three nights. But on the fourth night, she came with the book again, asking to have it read to her, and he said, "Now Melinda, you know how to run the tape recorder, so you go and listen to the story." And she said, "Yes, daddy, I know how to run the

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tape recorder, but I can't sit on its lap." Well, we understand that immediately, don't we? We all like the intimacy of touch. We all like to have someone with arms about us. We know what it is to be uplifted by the kind of friendship that caresses and upholds and encourages. Now at the other end of the spectrum, from a

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simple little four-year-old, take one of the great mathematical geniuses of all time, Albert Einstein. Einstein's wife died in 1936, and when she died, Albert Einstein's sister, Major, came and lived with him to keep house with him, which she did for 14 years. And in 1950, she had a massive stroke, was rendered totally

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unconscious, and there was no evident response, but she still lived. Every day, during the time when she lived, Einstein would go to her room, and for two hours, he would hold her hand and read to her. He said when asked about this, that he felt that some part of her was still with him, and he did not want to turn his

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back on this one who had meant so much. Whether it's a minor, or whether it's a major mathematical figure, we understand that there is a thing called companionship and friendship and communion and touch and sharing. We know that the nature of love and the nature of us requires that we not only give

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love, but that we also receive it. So good friendships can bring a great deal to life. Sharing joys, for example. Sometimes something happens to you that so fills your heart, you've got to tell it to somebody else. You don't want to tell it in such a way that it sounds boastful or arrogant, and so you seek out those who

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are closest to you who will rejoice in your rejoicing. I remember a couple of years ago when I received a letter one day that made me feel just absolutely grand. I called my mother first because, well you know mothers, they're always glad to hear good things about you. And then I called close friends, not in any

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spirit of look at my victory, but just because I had so much happiness in me, I had to let it spill out to others. It's a grand thing to be able to share your victories and your triumphs safely with your friends. And it's very important to be able to share your discouragements also. When your life has felt the slap of

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setback, or when you find yourself gripped by defeat, it's good to have someone who will stay with you in the midst of the ugly sounds you make at such a time. You know George Burns and Jack Benny were very good friends, and George Burns was asked on one occasion how it was that he and Benny were such

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good friends, and Burns said the answer is very simple. He never walked out on me when I sang, and I never walked out on him when he played the violin. No matter what ugly sounds came forth, they stayed with each other. Good things from good friendships come, but evil things from evil friendships come. But Amnon

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had a friend named Jonadab, and evil people cannot be good friends. See how this story of Amnon and Jonadab winds to its bloody conclusion. Absalom, the brother of Tamar, is profoundly offended at what has been done to his sister, but he's a very patient and a clever man. He is willing to wait for his revenge, so he

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takes his ashamed sister into his house so that she may have a place of safety and some pride in which to live. And then he bides his time. Two years pass, and it's the time of the annual sheep-shearing festival, a jamboree if you will, and Absalom invites Amnon to come to the jamboree. And when Amnon

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accepts, Absalom then says to the others who will be there, "At my signal, rise up and slay Amnon." And so the sheep were sheared, and when that was done, and the accounting was made, and the profit of the product was evident, and there was much rejoicing, and the tables were spread, and the wine flowed so that all

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were merry, and the young lambs that had been cooked were brought still on the spit, steaming to the table, Absalom raised up his wide-bladed sheep-shearing knife, and suddenly the smile that had been upon his face twisted instead into a mask of rage and fury, and he plunged his blade deep into the spitted lamb on

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the table before him, and at that signal, all the others gathered about the table, the friends of Absalom raised their wide-bladed knives and plunged them into the body of Amnon, and he died of a dozen dozen wounds. And the scriptures say he was buried at Baal Hazor. Now if you went to Baal Hazor today, and if by some

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strange circumstance you were archaeologically blessed so that you could find the cemetery in which Amnon was buried, and if by some greater miracle you could find the very tomb in which the bones of this murdered man were thrown, you would find on the tombstone of Amnon these words, "Amnon

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had a friend named Jonadab." But if you search that cemetery, its full width and its full breadth, you would not find there any stone for Jonadab, because Jonadab wasn't there. Those kinds of friends rarely are when the time of judgment comes. Oh, he planted the seed, he produced the plan, he opened the way,

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he was the agent of Amnon's ruin and of his shame. But when those blades flashed in the firelight, they were not aimed at Jonadab, for he was nowhere to be found. You ask why on a beautiful Sunday morning in June I would bring a story like this into this pulpit, when there are so many lovely tales in scripture, so

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many lovely lessons that I could share? I'll tell you why. Because I care about you. Because I only have 24 hours out of every 365 day year to speak to you, and I only have that 24 hours if you are faithful enough to come and listen. And I know, as any sensitive pastor knows, that some of you are counseling with Jonadab.

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Some of you are on the verge of very great decisions. Some of you are at the crossroads, the moral and ethical crossroads of your life. Some of you are counseling with people whose counsel is not good. Some of you think you are being kissed when you are being cursed. When anyone says to you, "Forget scripture. Turn

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away from the counsel of your God-fearing parents. Forget the wise words offered to you a long time ago by that old fuddy-duddy Sunday school teacher or the fat preacher who stands in the pulpit. You're a king's son. Do what you will. Exercise your prerogatives. Become a part of the I'll-get-mine parade.

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Listen, this is Jonadab speaking. And I bring this story to this pulpit this morning also because I know that Jonadab is here. He hears my words even as I speak. He would silence me if he could and perhaps will go out from this place with some undermining tale that he can spread to weaken any effect, puny that it

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might be, that I could have. He remembers, perhaps with gloating, how he has led others into being less than the royal children of God. Or perhaps, even as I speak of this, his soul shrivels and he recognizes his own guilt. Jonadab, Jonadab, repent. Do not be a tool in the hands of evil. Say and say it so

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clearly that no one can fail to hear, "Get thee behind me, Satan!" Do not do evil. Learn to do good. Today, if you will harden not your heart, a new life can be yours. Jonadab, I'm pleading with you for your eternity. And our time is gone. Let me, in closing, just share with you three principles that

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would be of value to all of us as we encounter friends in life. Let us remember always that we must cling, first of all, to Jesus Christ as our primary friend. The Bible says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." And Jesus Christ has laid down his life for each and

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every one of us. You have heard me speak from this pulpit before of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, that great German saint of the Second World War who died at the hands of the Nazis just three days before the prison camp in which he was interned was liberated by the Allied forces. Bonhoeffer had a great witness in

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that camp and people wondered how he could become and remain so strong in the midst of all the ugliness that went on there and that place was stinking with the breath of Jonadab. The answer to be found is in a letter which Bonhoeffer wrote just a few days before his execution. It was to a friend and the PS

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in that letter reads, "Read Proverbs 18 24 and don't forget it." Proverbs 18 24 reads as follows, "There are friends who pretend to be friends but there is a friend who sticketh closer than a brother." And who is that friend? Jesus says, "I do not call you servants, I call you friends." Whenever you question the

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friendship of another, force that other to stand before Jesus Christ. See him over against your greatest friend and you will know soon enough how true his colors are. First then we must cling to Christ, second we must cling to our convictions. Our minds must be set on that which is true. Paul writes, "We are to

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have the same mind in us which was in Christ Jesus." One of the beautiful things about our master's mind was the positivity of his purpose. Don't you like to encounter people who make up their minds about things and then stick with it? Have you ever tried to serve breakfast to a person who...you say to

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them, "Would you like some eggs?" "I don't care." "Well I'd be happy to fix them." "That doesn't make any difference to me." "Well I'm going to fix some for myself. Would you like to have some?" "I really...it's not important." "All right, I'll fix some eggs. Would you like them fried or scrambled?" "I don't care." "Well I mean, you

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know, I don't care either, so I'll just do them in the way you'd like to have them... how would you like them fried or scrambled?" "Well it's...I don't have any...you know, I get to the place with those kind of people that I'd like to hit them with the eggs. I'd like to hit them with a pan. And it's so refreshing to come to one

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who says, "My yay is yay and my nay is nay." Many of us have come from God-fearing homes and many of us have come from Christ-honoring churches and many of us have a sophisticated knowledge of the things of the faith and many of us are satisfied in our work and many of us have families that love us and support

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us and encourage us. But let me say to you that even if we have all of these things, we must also have those convictions which come from a mind that is in line with the mind of Christ. I had a young 28-year-old man say to me this last week, "Jesus I recognized as Lord in 1980, but Jesus became the

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Lord of my life in 1984." That's what it is to be captured by Christ when your convictions are taken over by him. John Wesley wrote in his journal, "I will have no one as intimate friend who will not help me to heaven." And the convictions of Christ help us to heaven. And then we must cling to our courage. We must stand

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shoulder to shoulder. We must not only stay close to Christ, but we must also stay close to other Christians. Do you remember that great scene in Henry V when the Battle of Agincourt is about to be fought and Westmoreland is afraid that too many Englishmen have gone and that they will not be able to stand

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successfully in the coming battle? And he tells King Henry of this and Henry responds, "Wish not one man more." And then, addressing the small company of troops that are before him, King Henry says, "This day is called the Feast of Crispian. He that outlives this day and comes safely home will yearly this vigil feast his

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neighbors and say, 'Tomorrow is St. Crispin's Day.' Then will he strip his sleeves and show his scars and say, 'These wounds I had on Crispian's Day and Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go die from this day until the ending of the world. But we in it shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers and

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gentlemen in England now abed shall think themselves accursed because they were not here and they shall hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks that fought with us upon St. Crispin's Day." So I say to you as the royal lords and ladies of the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ, we stand together. We few, we happy

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few, we band of sisters and brothers. But our captain is Christ. Our flag is his creed and expressed conviction. Our strength is comradeship with him and comradeship with each other. And when these things are ours, we cannot be defeated. We cannot but prevail. We cannot but live happily ever after.

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Let us pray. Oh we thank thee our Father for the friendship of our Savior, for the friendship of the truth we discover in him, and for the friendship which is ours in one another. Sometimes we are few, very few, a mere band of Christian women

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and men. But we stand with thee, in thee, and for thee. And out of this friendship comes our hope and our promise of victory. Thanks be to thee, O God, for thine unspeakable gift. Amen.

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