Friends in Faith
John 15:9-17
Today’s passage is one of the most comforting and
One of
the most troubling ones in the Gospel of John.
It
is comforting to think that we can be friends with Jesus
However
it is also troubling to think that
Jesus
died for our friendship.
It
is comforting to think that we can talk
as friends with Jesus but its also
troubling to think
of the responsibility of trust with that friendship.
It
is comforting to think that Jesus loves us as friends
But
it troubling to think how hard it is for us
To
return that unmerited love to Christ.
There
is a real privilege to friendship but
There
is also a real responsibility and trust.
Think about friends that you have.
How
did you meet them? How did you become
friends?
Was
it common interests, values, location, work?
I
thought about my friends and discovered
That
I don’t know where they came from.
But
I do know what makes them friends:
I
trust them, I enjoy them, I talk with them,
I
believe in them, I like them,
They
make sacrifices for me
And
I for them
Without
thinking.
And these are the attributes that Jesus
is lifting up
As
he calls his disciples from being servants
To
being friends.
He
is not expecting less of his disciples
But
he is expecting much more:
“You
are my friends because you do what I need you to do”
“I call you friends because you know
what I’m doing,
I’ve
shared it with you”
“We hang out together” (the
Biblical word is “abide”)
“I will even sacrifice my life for our
friendship”
When Jesus calls his disciples to be
“friends” it is a high calling.
No
longer do they just do their duty because it’s required.
No longer do they meet the “minimum
daily requirement”
It
is no longer a job to follow Jesus but rather
It
is part of their friendship.
Which
means they care about what he thinks,
They
strive to make him proud of them,
They
go well past the minimum requirements
To
do what he wants them to do.
And
they are in his presence not because they have to be
But
because they want to hang out-abide with Jesus.
It is a high calling.
I
talk with couples preparing for marriage and that is
One
of the highest affirmations they have for each other
“He
is my best friend” or “she is my best friend.”
Here
are a couple people embarking on the most intimate
And
longest relationship journey and the highest claim
Is
to be best friends.
And
that is the calling Jesus put before
His
disciples and before us.
“I no longer call you servants…but I have
called you friends.”
Many people in scripture were called
“servants of God.”
Moses
in Deuteronomy 34; Joshua in Joshua 24;
But
only Abraham in Isaiah 41:8 “my friend” and
Moses in
Exodus
33:11-“the Lord used to speak to Moses,
face
to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
These
two giants were “friends in faith” and now Jesus
Was
calling his disciples and even us today
To
be “friends in faith” through Christ.
And it is not we who choose Jesus to be
our friend
But
it is Jesus who chooses us.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you
and appointed you
to bear good fruit.”
It’s like that game we used to play as
children when
People
would choose up sides for a game.
You
always wanted to be chosen because that meant
That
the captain choosing liked you and
Trusted
you to do well on the team.
You
have been chosen by God in Jesus Christ
To
be a friend in faith.
Isn’t
that great! Isn’t it scary at the same
time.
To
be a friend of Jesus is risky business.
Remember
Jesus friend Peter in the Courtyard
When the women asked him:
“Are you not
also one of this man’s disciples?”
And
Peter answered:
“I am not.”
He
denied being Jesus disciple
because it would have implicated him.
He
would have been in danger of the same fate
As
Jesus had suffered.
We live in an era where everyone seems
to rewrite the Gospels.
If I were going to rewrite the Gospel, I would
rewrite this part.
Wouldn’t
it have been great if in response to the question:
` “Are
you also one of this man’s disciples?”
Peter had
said:
“No, I am not his disciple…I am his friend.”
It would not have gotten Peter off the
hook at all.
In
fact by acknowledging that he was Jesus’ friend
He
would have been in bigger trouble than as a disciple.
As
a disciple he is merely an innocent or duped follower,
Being
a friend would mean that he understood Jesus.
He
bought into Jesus values.
In
friendship there was trust, loyalty, faith.
If it seems that I have suggested a
lofty understanding of friendship
I
have, because Jesus makes such a connection: friendship is-
“sacrifice”, “obedience”, “love”, “understanding”,
“fruitful” and “hanging out or abiding”
You should pick your friends wisely.
That
is advice I have for our graduates.
You
are in a time where you are making new friends-
Choose
wisely because your friends whether they
Are
in college or you job or the military
Will
affect and change you life.
One
friend you can count on above all others- Jesus Christ.
He
has already chosen you
(so you already have one friend)
and has already given his life for you.
(so
he’s a good friend)
And
all you have to do in response to him
Is
to live you life for him.
It’s
a high calling to be “friends in faith”.
This friend Jesus will get you into
trouble
Because he challenges the status quo,
He is never content with what was or
what is
And
asks “What might be if we live
In
the love of God?”
And he wants all his friend to be
friends.
That’s why we join churches and share ministry
and meals together
And
hang out or abide with each other.
Because
we have a common friend- Jesus Christ
Who
lived out the words he said to the disciples
Who
became his friends:
Greater love hath no man than this,
to
lay down his life for his friends-
you are my friends”.
You are each
friends of this Jesus Christ
Today
we get to receive two new members
Whose
last name, coincidentally is “Friend.”
As
we receive Willard and Diana was are aware that they are
With
us responding to a high calling
To be “friends in faith” through Jesus
Christ.
It
is a joyful and risky calling.
Our prayer is that we might be friends with each other
even as we are friends in Christ. Amen