THE GREATEST MAN I HAVE EVER KNOWN HAS GONE TO HEAVEN
The greatest man I have ever known has gone to heaven.
Diane Murillo, Roger’s beloved wife, broke the news to me that my brother died. She was feeling an immeasurable loss. Yet she was standing strong.
After she finished telling me, I headed straight to my prayer room. I was shocked and angry. This was the last thing I expected. It was devastating.
It took a few days for me to pray and compose myself. I am finally able to write about him. Only those who have lost someone they loved can understand how hard this is for me.
To say that I knew him all my life is an understatement. Roger Murillo was born only 11 months before me. We were what they call ‘Irish twins’.
My earliest story about him was when we were in opposite cribs. My mother told me how one night he stood up in his crib and cried, “Mom, will you please tell Mario to shut up!”
Since then, many have told me the same thing…but, Roger started it.
Only those who have lost someone they loved can understand how hard this is for me.
Growing up in the inner-city, Roger faced a lot of cruelty. Bob Pagent was a bully who was much bigger than my brother. Bob constantly targeted Roger. The surprise attacks were brutal. But things took a strange turn one summer.
It was the summer Roger announced he was going to play football. This coincided with a growth spurt of almost 3 inches. He lifted weights religiously. He ran sprints. He became scary strong.
Writers love to use the phrase, “as fate would have it.” Let me put it this way: The odds of what I am about to tell you happening are incalculable.
The Big Game against Sacred Heart High School arrived. I am the nervous little brother pacing the sidelines. Why? Because my brother is starting at defensive guard.
Right before he went in the game, he walked over to me with a wild grin on his face. “Watch who I am lined up against.” Sure enough, it was Bob Pagent. Yes, that Bob. Bob, who is now staring down the barrel of the new improved version of Roger Murillo.
Let me put it this way: The odds of what I am about to tell you happening are incalculable.
When the ball was snapped Roger laid him out. Bobby saw a lot of sky that day…and a lot of stars. Wherever Bob lined up, Roger lined up against him. Until Bob had to be helped off the field and did not return to the game.
Yes, I love Jesus. And do not believe in revenge. But this was satisfying.
Speaking of Jesus, this is how Roger met Him. One morning in October of 1964, Roger said to me, “I heard that you became a Christian.” I said, “Yes.” And Roger replied, “I am going to do the same thing.”
He surrendered to Jesus on his own. It was an irrevocable surrender. The impact was immediate. In fact, it was a miracle. The first evidence of that came in school.
Roger was struggling in high school. He was falling behind academically. But when he met Jesus it lit the pilot light.
“I heard that you became a Christian.” I said, “Yes.” And Roger replied, “I am going to do the same thing.”
He wanted to go to Seattle Pacific University, so he knew what he had to do.
The hand of God was on him to excel. He went from falling behind to graduating early.
He landed in a prestigious Christian university surrounded by students from well-to-do families. They had no idea that he often had no money for food and just a few changes of clothes.
Every year it took everything within him to stay in college. And he almost made it. Then he just ran out of money.
Soon he was called to the administration office. He knew that they were going to tell him there was nothing more they could do. He would have to leave.
Instead, a miracle happened. Hollywood would have turned down any script if it had this in it. They didn’t call him to notify him that he had to leave the school. It was just the opposite.
They told him that a woman from San Francisco had died and left an endowment for college students from our neighborhood. And so Roger graduated from Seattle Pacific University.
His courage was different from mine in many ways. In some ways it was greater. I was traveling and ministering in the public eye. He was privately conquering fear and holding on to a dream, facing the impossible again and again.
They told him that a woman from San Francisco had died and left an endowment for college students from our neighborhood.
His capacity for gentleness and forgiveness constantly put me under conviction. Then there was that smile. Yes, it could just light up a room. He probably smiled more in a month than I have in my entire life, and believe me, he smiled through some brutal times.
That is a lesson I am still trying to learn.
For years he served as a teacher in the kind of neighborhoods we grew up in. He even reversed the misfortunes of a Christian school. Making him the principal was the wisest thing they ever did.
He kept track of how my ministry advanced without a shred of envy. I, on the other hand, always envied his character. The authentic Christian man, living a genuine life. Always seeking knowledge. Smarter than me—that’s for sure.
It is said that when a great person dies, the measure of their life is the stories people tell about them. If everyone who was friends with Roger could speak now, the stream of stories would be endless.
I know they will complain about how much I left out.
The authentic Christian man, living a genuine life.
This is where people trot out the clichés like, ‘He was a devoted Father.’ I am not qualified to speak to that. That is for Adam and Michelle to tell you. He was all that and more.
What I can tell you is this: My brother is gone and I am broken hearted. He is now in the presence of the One he loved the most—beholding glory for which there are no words.
God has allowed me to know great Christian men like David Wilkerson and Oral Roberts. I have travelled the world only to find out after some years that the greatest man I ever knew was the one who grew up right next to me.
I miss you Roger. My trust is in God. He will help me understand why you are gone so soon.
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