Jump Start # 3982
Proverbs 18:24 A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
I’ve known John Myers for more than forty years. What we had was more than just knowing each other, we were friends, dear friends. He always said I was his best friend. Our paths began when we were in Indianapolis. We learned that both of our families came from small towns in south central Indiana. His was Worthington and mine was Coal City. He married a wonderful woman named Sherry. I’ve known Sherry for years. Her mother was one of my first Bible class teachers. We worshipped in the same congregation. And, now, John was a part of her life.
John had never been married and he instantly became a step father to three teens. Sherry was the eternal optimist. For John, the sky was always falling. He carried a special and unique and quick dry wit that could put a smile on the most stern face. John’s early life was wrapped around classical music. John was a musician, a seriously good musician. Classical guitar was his instrument of choice and he played it brilliantly. He taught music in colleges. He toured some of the great venues across Europe. His music was recorded. He played backup to some famous pop stars. He was on a path to stardom, fame and something many would have envied.
Soon after John married he walked away from that world. In the spring of 1986 he was baptized by Dee Bowman and that completely changed his path. John continued to love music and we have attended so many concerts together. He was an expert on the composer Mahler and next week we had tickets to attend yet another Mahler concert. I have heard recordings of John playing, but once he changed directions, he never picked up a guitar again. We would talk about what it was like being on stage at Carnegie Hall, and other places, but he never regretted his decision. He never longed for that life again.
John worked most of his life in the world of computers. But after he retired, he started preaching for a small, struggling congregation. The emails from John to me would come almost daily. Questions about a passage. Wanting advice about how to handle a situation. Letting me know that he preached yet another one of these Jump Starts. Wanting me to look over an article or a sermon. It seemed that John found something that was so rewarding, challenging, hard and passionate, and that is the world of preaching. John came late in life to preaching, but he brought a wonderful insight and a fresh heart that made his work so powerful. I’m sad that he didn’t get the recognition that he so worthily deserved as a preacher. John didn’t see himself as much of a preacher. He told me that he felt like a fraud because he borrowed so much of my material. But his heart was so genuine. His faith was so strong. In many ways, many ways, he was a much better preacher than I have ever been. He worked hard at it. He was good at it.
We traveled to old cemeteries together. He has spent so many nights in our home. When the topic of music came up, not only did John know about a classical piece, he was familiar with the conductor. He loved watching movies and he had a routine of watching certain ones over and over. He was thoroughly a Pepsi guy. Going out to eat with John was a real experience. He’d be offered a Coke, but his dry wit would have a come back about how it wasn’t a Pepsi.
Years and years and memories and memories have been spent with each other.
John had a serious surgery recently. Things were looking good. But, infections and more procedures followed. I saw John last Friday. We knew the doorway of death was opening. His wife and I talked about angels in the room. I said a prayer, rubbed his head and a flood of memories filled my heart. He died the next day. This morning I am to preach John’s funeral. This will be hard because I loved him dearly. This will be hard because I am not ready for him to go. We had this running joke between us. He’d say, “You are going to preach my funeral.” And, I’d reply, “Well, John, that’s going to be rather awkward, because you are going to preach mine first.”
A few months ago, John wrote this in an email to me: “I’ve been thinking a lot about Heaven lately. So much we don’t know. I wonder, will I get to meet Paul? And, Peter? And Noah and Job and Esther? Will I get to see the handsome king David? Will we be able to watch replays of the great Bible events such as the parting of the Red Sea? Will there be smells? What will the water of life taste like? Only one way to find out. I want to go there SO BAD!”
One of the cute things John would ask of me was to pray for him. It wasn’t a generic prayer, but a very time specific prayer. He’d be having an interview and he’d send me an email asking, “Can you pray for me on Tuesday at 3:30?” He’d be having a medical test, a tooth pulled or something like that and an email would come, “I need you to pray for me at 9:30 on Wednesday.” That happened often. I’d take a post-it note, and write, “John, tomorrow, 9:30.” Then I would pray.
His step granddaughter is married to one of my sons. The layers of our family are woven very tightly.
Dear, dear Christian friendships are a treasure that few really understand or value. The journey of this life is made smoother because of these connections we have with fellow disciples.
There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. How well I understand the meaning of this passage. How well I feel this passage today.
Thank you for letting me introduce you to my friend John. I hope you’ll get to spend some time with him on the other side. What a great, great soul he is. What a blessing to intersect hearts with incredible believers in the Lord.
We met and I’m the better because of it.
Thank you, Lord.
Roger