Old Mystic, May 31, 2009
Romans 8:22-27
Acts 2:1-21
Summary
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is the realization of the promise of Emmanuel in its fullness: God is with us. It began with the Advent of Jesus Christ, followed by the life, death and Resurrection of the Lord, and came to full circle with the bestowing of God’s Spirit upon all believers. God is with us through the Holy Spirit that is in us, who is our Helper, the bearer of hope, the source of our strength, and the means of our empowerment.
Sermon
According to the dictionary, to groan is to voice a deep, inarticulate sound, as of pain, grief, or displeasure. It is then obviously related with suffering of which I don’t think I need to expand or explain because there is too much in the world. Indeed there is a lot groaning taking place. We hear it in the hospital, in the nursing home, at the workplace, at home, and even in church. Henry David Thoreau said, “Even trees do not die without a groan.” As a lover of nature, he had a sense of its plight of and the pain that is involved even in natural processes. As for human beings, William Blake, when reflecting about life, said, “My mother groan'd, my father wept into the dangerous world I leapt, helpless, naked, piping loud, like a fiend hid in a cloud.” And, in terms of the unequal arrangements of societal relations, it was Henry Wadsworth (Longfellow) who came up with a famous saying that described reality as he saw it: “One half of the world must sweat and groan that the other half may dream.”
But groaning acquires a different meaning in the context of the text we read. Paul wrote, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” It is still a groan, an utterance that expresses grief or pain, but it is a hopeful groan because we have a foretaste of what God has in store for those who are waiting for the adoption, the time when the fulfillment of the “shalom,” of God’s perfect peace, will be complete. And that foretaste, the first fruits of that future reality is the ineffable presence of God, sealed in us, becoming part of our being and our becoming, and the power of our existence. It is the person of the Holy Spirit.
It is because of such an indescribable blessing that the historical event that took place at Pentecost is so significant. It was a visible experience of the presence of God as He empowered a group of common folk to utter words in tongues they could not speak or comprehend themselves but which brought good news to their hearers. It came like a rushing wind and as tongues of fire but, beyond the miraculous character of the signs, we can hear God saying, “I am with you and in you.” God’s Spirit is part of our being and a “down payment” of the wholeness of our full adoption as God’s children. We still groan as we wait for that moment. Life is still difficult; we have to deal with ups and downs; with failures, and pain. The “explosion” that took place among Jesus’ disciples gathered in the Upper Room on the celebration of the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the ancient feast of the harvest, reminds us that God’s promise of Emmanuel stands and that the Holy Spirit is with us as our Helper.
It is on this name of the Holy Spirit that I want to focus as we reflect on Paul’s writing to the Romans: our Helper. It is because of that help, confirmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, that we have hope. We often say when going through pain and suffering that we cannot see the “light at the end of the tunnel.” But Paul invites us to dwell in the hope that the Spirit Helper offers. To hope means for him to wait for what we don’t see knowing that it is waiting at the end of the road. We may not see the light at the end of the tunnel; perhaps we don’t need to see it, but there is such a light. The Spirit Helper bears hope to us and equips us with spiritual eyes to see what remains obscure for our weak human spirit.
It seems to be quite difficult to live expecting something that we can’t see or touch. The whole idea of blessings coming in an unknown future is not satisfying for everyone. Not all of us have patience to wait. In fact, in this day and age of instant gratification, patience is not an abundant commodity. Paul said, “…if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” When our imagination, ignited by faith and empowered by the Spirit, has a vision, a desired future that we can hope for, patience is required. We need patience to deal with circumstances, with people, and with pain and suffering. It is not by chance that Paul names patience as one of the gifts of the Spirit. It is only by virtue of the presence of the Holy Spirit of God that we can exercise patience.
Patience, however, is not a deterrent to action. It is not a passive attitude of waiting and seeing life go by. In fact, patience is required in any course of action since, as I mentioned before, in life we have ups and downs, victories and defeats, and pain and pleasure. Yet we can’t be static; we need to walk the road and perhaps into the tunnel where we see no light at the end if it. Yet, at every moment, all the time, God is with us.
We may have hope and patience and still be groaning and the sounds or utterances of groaning may vary from person to person. I’m not sure whether we need help to groan or not—some of us may be quite good at groaning with displeasure. Yet, there is a groaning with “sighs to deep for words” which is not ours when our whole being is empowered by the Holy Spirit. And those sighs are a powerful connection with the Living God. As Paul put it: “we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Very often the Holy Spirit is associated with the power of performing signs or miracles in the lives of people such as healings and other manifestations that seem to defy the order of nature. Indeed, God has the power to do those things. However, that power is evident in our lives when we enter into that relationship with God that is prayer. It is not the calculated, or scripted, or even the spontaneous intercession from believers that is purposeful, directed, and wishful. There is nothing wrong with that type of prayer, however, the kind of powerful prayer the apostle is speaking of is that one when we completely surrender to the ineffable presence of God through the Holy Spirit, perhaps beginning with silence, and with a humble approach that does not make any assumptions or predict any outcome, but that simply sighs before the majestic presence of God because, in fact, it is the Holy Spirit the One who prays.
How much we need to sigh with those perhaps unintelligible sounds! Whenever we experience this we have a foretaste of God’s perfect peace because we can rest assured that, even if we don’t know what needs to be said, or what is being said, it is the will of God. Isn’t it funny? The perfect will of God is not what we can write about him, or a theological statement, or a uniform, normative interpretation of the Scriptures. It is what The Holy Spirit of God expresses through a prayer of complete submission, of unintelligible sounds; our submission to the Great Helper.
Do we need that help? The answer is so obvious that we run the risk of missing it! After all, don’t we all know that we need to depend on God for all we do? Yet, we are free, rationally empowered, and independent individuals—or so we think—that the idea of surrendering to a Spiritual Being seems to be bizarre. Yet, we keep on groaning! Because the suffering continues, the pain doesn’t go, and the uncertainties remain. The promise is powerful; we have the first fruits; just a sample, perhaps, but powerful. It is God in us; it is the confirmation of Emmanuel. God the Father (and Mother), the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Three and One, coming to abide in us to help us. And that is just the beginning of abundant life and a future of peace, love, and justice.
One Way
Old Mystic, May 24, 2009
Psalms 1
Summary
May our lives be rooted in the incomparable richness of a relationship with God in whom we can delight day and night. We will be happy and prosper as we relate to God and we cultivate that relationship with discipline.
Sermon
My choice of title goes a little against the grain. Most commentators, when dealing with the first Psalm, tend to title their analysis “The Two Ways.” Now, I am not attempting to challenge the fact that this didactic poem—or prose—clearly shows two paths of behavior and exposes the contrast between the lives of the righteous and the wicked. Yet, my contention is that we need to focus on the one way to true happiness and prosperity. Focusing on the “other way” or the “way of the wicked” as we look into the world, our society, and human relationships in this 21st century, we may fall into the pits of becoming judges of who is who in the drama of life in the “pursuit of happiness.” As we learn in Family System Theory, a system can be changed only by a choice of differentiation, changing what we can change in us and about us and not imposing our views on others. Our choice of the One Way can change things.
I also want to focus on the One Way, the way of the righteous, because the pursuit of happiness and prosperity is at the heart of human existence. I must say as a warning, that the whole body of the Psalms and the book of Job portray how happiness can be elusive for the person of faith, lest we go along with the tendency in many Christian circles to relate prosperity mostly to material possessions. Do I need to say that happiness and prosperity are beyond owning houses, and cars, and land, or fat bank accounts? Faith is a key to a relationship with God, not the power to “name it and claim it”—an approach too popular in many Christian churches who proclaim a gospel of prosperity.
The first Psalm, as a sort of introduction to the book, speaks about being happy and prospering. “Happy are those… (The righteous)… They are like trees planted by streams of water… In all that they do, they prosper.” Now, saying that happiness and prosperity are found (and founded) in righteousness may seem encumbering to many. It sounds like we have to be some sort of saints, confined in a monastery, and living an ascetic life in order to stay in the right path. Yet, on the contrary, Jesus’ call to discipleship in this world, being in the world, and building a better world, is a radical call. And it is a call to be righteous wherever God has placed us—something that we know can be difficult, sacrificial, and even elusive.
Being righteous could be elusive because we all struggle with “the other way” as depicted in the passage. Often times, the contrast between the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked is not that clear. Aren’t we hearing the dubious advice and confusing use of language about the use torture (enhanced interrogation methods) to protect our security? Are we going to do what the wicked do (torture) arguing that the end justify the means? What is righteous? Many of the challenges of these days are courting us to accept the devaluation of human life and that—to me, at least—is tantamount to treading the path of sinners and scoffers. Yet many of us are confused. Happiness and prosperity are not about surviving a nuclear holocaust, or a terrorist attack, or an economic downturn. They are about being righteous and are found and founded in a personal, profound, and transforming relationship with the Living God. This is the One Way!
The happiness and prosperity of the righteous have two marks in the text that I want to point out. First, happiness is delighting in that relationship with the Living God. “Happy are those who… their delight is on the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.” For the Jewish audience, the law or the Torah was the medium to connect with God. The law was God’s covenant with them and through that covenant God called them his people. The law was the realm of their spirituality, where they experienced an encounter with God. But Paul expands this realm for Christianity. “The law was our disciplinarian until Christ came… now… we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian… God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.” We have more that the law—which he also calls a rudiment—we have the Spirit of God and we can delight in that relationship through prayer, meditation, worship, study and other spiritual disciplines.
Happiness is found and founded in our delight of spending time with the Living God. It is an every day thing; as the Psalmist says, it is delighting “night and day.” But this delighting is not just a personal, individual experience we enjoy in private. It is that to a great extent, yet it is also more than that. And for that reason we meet as a congregation, as God’s people, and as a community. “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity... for there the Lord ordained his blessing for evermore.” When we gather God is in our midst and we delight in his presence. When we worship, and pray, and study together, we are making strides toward righteousness.
The second mark of the happiness and prosperity of the righteous is that they bear fruit. The Psalm has a very powerful simile, the happy and prosperous righteous “are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” Those who delight in the Lord will discover more easily what it means to bear fruit. We bear fruit through relationships, work, service, and practice. When we speak, when we write, and when we communicate; in times of busyness and in times of leisure. At all times we can delight in what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit: “…Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” All these things can be part of any practice; in the marketplace, in the business world; in the public arena; in the global world of politics.
In a day and night relationship with God and with the desire to bear fruit, we will prosper—and I’m convinced God will honor the Psalmist’s statement. The righteous are the ones who build things that are good and permanent. Prosperity is about building relationships, performing good deeds, fulfilling a duty, and creative work. Prosperity is not about abundance; it is having our needs met. It is not about the stuff we have or we want to have; it is about the stuff we are made of.
It is also important to remember that the Psalms in themselves offer no guarantees. Unfortunately, from a perspective, the wicked do prosper—I don’t personally believe they are ever happy in the true sense of the word—and the righteous do suffer. Paul reminds us that, “…we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” We are not free from afflictions, illnesses, and losses. We know that! Yet, the claim of the author of the first psalm stands as an introduction to the whole body of the Psalms which in the laments so much depict human foibles and agonies. The leaves of the righteous shall not wither. And as long as the connection with the creator remains; if there is a relationship with the Living God, then happiness and prosperity are possible.
Our challenge as a congregation goes perhaps beyond choosing one of two ways. Who among us would desire to follow the “path of the wicked”? Our call is to focus in the One Way, the way of the righteous, who finds happiness, and who prosper. In this day and age we hear so much about what is right and how to be right. And we are told that we must follow “the rules” otherwise we do not belong to what the psalmist calls “the congregation of the righteous.” We hear judgment pronounced on people all the time; the focus is too often on what is wrong with our neighbor. That is not exactly the One Way. Our call is to delight on the Lord; to experience God; to love God and to build a relationship with him. God is the source of our happiness and the one who prospers all we do.
Psalms 1
Summary
May our lives be rooted in the incomparable richness of a relationship with God in whom we can delight day and night. We will be happy and prosper as we relate to God and we cultivate that relationship with discipline.
Sermon
My choice of title goes a little against the grain. Most commentators, when dealing with the first Psalm, tend to title their analysis “The Two Ways.” Now, I am not attempting to challenge the fact that this didactic poem—or prose—clearly shows two paths of behavior and exposes the contrast between the lives of the righteous and the wicked. Yet, my contention is that we need to focus on the one way to true happiness and prosperity. Focusing on the “other way” or the “way of the wicked” as we look into the world, our society, and human relationships in this 21st century, we may fall into the pits of becoming judges of who is who in the drama of life in the “pursuit of happiness.” As we learn in Family System Theory, a system can be changed only by a choice of differentiation, changing what we can change in us and about us and not imposing our views on others. Our choice of the One Way can change things.
I also want to focus on the One Way, the way of the righteous, because the pursuit of happiness and prosperity is at the heart of human existence. I must say as a warning, that the whole body of the Psalms and the book of Job portray how happiness can be elusive for the person of faith, lest we go along with the tendency in many Christian circles to relate prosperity mostly to material possessions. Do I need to say that happiness and prosperity are beyond owning houses, and cars, and land, or fat bank accounts? Faith is a key to a relationship with God, not the power to “name it and claim it”—an approach too popular in many Christian churches who proclaim a gospel of prosperity.
The first Psalm, as a sort of introduction to the book, speaks about being happy and prospering. “Happy are those… (The righteous)… They are like trees planted by streams of water… In all that they do, they prosper.” Now, saying that happiness and prosperity are found (and founded) in righteousness may seem encumbering to many. It sounds like we have to be some sort of saints, confined in a monastery, and living an ascetic life in order to stay in the right path. Yet, on the contrary, Jesus’ call to discipleship in this world, being in the world, and building a better world, is a radical call. And it is a call to be righteous wherever God has placed us—something that we know can be difficult, sacrificial, and even elusive.
Being righteous could be elusive because we all struggle with “the other way” as depicted in the passage. Often times, the contrast between the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked is not that clear. Aren’t we hearing the dubious advice and confusing use of language about the use torture (enhanced interrogation methods) to protect our security? Are we going to do what the wicked do (torture) arguing that the end justify the means? What is righteous? Many of the challenges of these days are courting us to accept the devaluation of human life and that—to me, at least—is tantamount to treading the path of sinners and scoffers. Yet many of us are confused. Happiness and prosperity are not about surviving a nuclear holocaust, or a terrorist attack, or an economic downturn. They are about being righteous and are found and founded in a personal, profound, and transforming relationship with the Living God. This is the One Way!
The happiness and prosperity of the righteous have two marks in the text that I want to point out. First, happiness is delighting in that relationship with the Living God. “Happy are those who… their delight is on the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.” For the Jewish audience, the law or the Torah was the medium to connect with God. The law was God’s covenant with them and through that covenant God called them his people. The law was the realm of their spirituality, where they experienced an encounter with God. But Paul expands this realm for Christianity. “The law was our disciplinarian until Christ came… now… we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian… God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.” We have more that the law—which he also calls a rudiment—we have the Spirit of God and we can delight in that relationship through prayer, meditation, worship, study and other spiritual disciplines.
Happiness is found and founded in our delight of spending time with the Living God. It is an every day thing; as the Psalmist says, it is delighting “night and day.” But this delighting is not just a personal, individual experience we enjoy in private. It is that to a great extent, yet it is also more than that. And for that reason we meet as a congregation, as God’s people, and as a community. “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity... for there the Lord ordained his blessing for evermore.” When we gather God is in our midst and we delight in his presence. When we worship, and pray, and study together, we are making strides toward righteousness.
The second mark of the happiness and prosperity of the righteous is that they bear fruit. The Psalm has a very powerful simile, the happy and prosperous righteous “are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” Those who delight in the Lord will discover more easily what it means to bear fruit. We bear fruit through relationships, work, service, and practice. When we speak, when we write, and when we communicate; in times of busyness and in times of leisure. At all times we can delight in what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit: “…Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” All these things can be part of any practice; in the marketplace, in the business world; in the public arena; in the global world of politics.
In a day and night relationship with God and with the desire to bear fruit, we will prosper—and I’m convinced God will honor the Psalmist’s statement. The righteous are the ones who build things that are good and permanent. Prosperity is about building relationships, performing good deeds, fulfilling a duty, and creative work. Prosperity is not about abundance; it is having our needs met. It is not about the stuff we have or we want to have; it is about the stuff we are made of.
It is also important to remember that the Psalms in themselves offer no guarantees. Unfortunately, from a perspective, the wicked do prosper—I don’t personally believe they are ever happy in the true sense of the word—and the righteous do suffer. Paul reminds us that, “…we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” We are not free from afflictions, illnesses, and losses. We know that! Yet, the claim of the author of the first psalm stands as an introduction to the whole body of the Psalms which in the laments so much depict human foibles and agonies. The leaves of the righteous shall not wither. And as long as the connection with the creator remains; if there is a relationship with the Living God, then happiness and prosperity are possible.
Our challenge as a congregation goes perhaps beyond choosing one of two ways. Who among us would desire to follow the “path of the wicked”? Our call is to focus in the One Way, the way of the righteous, who finds happiness, and who prosper. In this day and age we hear so much about what is right and how to be right. And we are told that we must follow “the rules” otherwise we do not belong to what the psalmist calls “the congregation of the righteous.” We hear judgment pronounced on people all the time; the focus is too often on what is wrong with our neighbor. That is not exactly the One Way. Our call is to delight on the Lord; to experience God; to love God and to build a relationship with him. God is the source of our happiness and the one who prospers all we do.
I Have Called You Friends
Old Mystic, May 17, 2009
John 15:9-17
Summary
We are called to abide in the love that Jesus offers and to offer that love to others. That relationship can be called friendship. Jesus made us his friends that we may befriend our neighbors.
Sermon
Who doesn’t need friends? In a world where loneliness is so present we all need that person we can lean on. Remember the movie “Lean on Me”? It told the story of how people working together in love, cooperation, and friendship were able to overcome the odds and bring a High School in a torn down neighborhood to the academic level needed to avoid its closing. I’m not sure how many have actually seen the movie, but probably more have heard the song. I particularly enjoy the line that goes, “Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on, for it won't be long, 'til I'm going to need somebody to lean on."
Friendship is perhaps one of the most precious things in life and the word friend can be used of anyone with no distinction. Our brother or sister may be a friend; our spouse or co-worker; our fellow church member or neighbor; someone alike or someone different. In fact the translation of the word used in our text, philous, is “loved one.” In our culture, the word is sometime watered down though it is commonly accepted that friendship implies a relationship, with certain familiarity, reciprocal support, and trust. The depth with which the word friend is employed will significantly vary with the user.
I must confess that my choice has been over the years to give considerable weight to friendship. I have definitely subscribed to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote: “A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud.” And, as many do, I have often used the qualifier “best friend” to refer to a very few people in this life because, unfortunately, like many, I have not been always sure whether I could actually trust and “think aloud” with a so-called friend. As humans we often fail and our mutual trust is broken.
But friends are precious and the use of the word becomes powerful when it comes from Jesus. “I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from the Father.” What a flattering remark for his disciples! They were imperfect; very often, full of doubts; had limited understanding, and were not even sure who this man Jesus was. But they stuck to the relationship. They were there most of the time and they only fled under the threat of the authorities that crucified the Lord. In the end, however, as they grew in faith and understanding, they remained faithful to Jesus who had offered them friendship.
The passage seems to indicate that friendship is a two-way road but a road that we begin to tread. Jesus set the example as he laid his life for all of us. He said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay one’s life for one’s friends.” As a matter of fact, laying one’s life for a friend was part of the definition of friendship in those days. The other expectation of a friend was “frankness of speech.” And that was exactly was Jesus offered his disciples: his life for them and the honest telling of all the things that the Father had told him. But it began with Jesus’ offer. This is the kind of friendship that is not built on expectations but on giving.
Friendship is a relationship that is built on love. On the love of God sublimely expressed in Jesus Christ and His saving grace. We were loved by God to abide in love. It is love what makes God so attractive! There is no thought as powerful as that one that the God creator of the whole universe loves me. And that is an unfailing love. Everything in the world may come to an end; the markets may collapse; society go into turmoil. War may destroy us, and we may be left hungry, naked, and dispossessed. But, as Paul put it: “For I’m convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Such is the love offered in friendship by Jesus and the commandment follows that we love one another as he loved us.
Friendship is a relationship; a two-way relationship between God and human beings and also among humans themselves. We need God and we need each other. We were created to be related to one another. Not many things in life are as obvious as the fact that we are relational beings. The greatest moments in life take place when we are surrounded by people. When we are born, baptized, married, and we have children of our own; when we gather to eat and be merry; when we worship and pray, and even when we join to celebrate the life of those who pass. The mark of those moments and of a life of friendship with God and others is joy. Joy, that exhilarating feeling, so difficult to explain. That sense of goodness, happiness, and wholeness. Joy is the experience of heaven on earth when we have an anticipation of that peace that passes understanding and we want the world to stop. Unfortunately, in this world, joy is perhaps just a snapshot of what is to come.
Jesus words are compelling and soothing: “I have said these things to you so that my joy be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” Isn’t this good news? What other thing could the Gospel be than Jesus’ friendship? In this postmodern age, more than ever, the Good News of hope, salvation, and peace are going to be spread through friendships, especially in a world where many “outsiders” to Christianity are still offering us hospitality and friendship. The joy of Jesus’ friends who offer friendship unconditionally can and will make a difference in the world.
Friendship is a relationship that bears fruit. Jesus said, “… I chose you. And I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last…” When a tree or a plant bears fruit there is a purpose that is fulfilled. And fruit is related to life because it contains the seeds of life so that the tree or plant will give life. Jesus’ friendship is life giving because he laid down his life for us. And, as it was mentioned before, laying one’s life for one’s friends was part of the ancient definition of friendship. In our age, friendship is perhaps taken a little more lightly. We have many relationships that are sometimes shallow, other times deeper. Yet, the love of God urges us on to love sacrificially. We are being stretched day by day by the love that took Jesus all the way to the cross.
By offering friendship we can offer life; the life of Christ that is in us. That is the kind of quality life that the world needs. It is not just the spiritual life; it is life at its fullest where needs are met through friends; spiritual and material needs. Offering friendship implies building community, as we offer it gratuitously to everyone; to those who are near and to those who are far; to those who look just like us and to those who look quite different. The church is a rudiment of that kind of community where life is offered through friendship; friendship rooted in the life of Jesus Christ.
As we look into our own lives, our relationships, our victories, and failures, we may come to the conclusion that we are barely beginning to grasp the meaning of receiving Jesus’ friendship and offering it to others. Perhaps we can scarcely sow some seeds of that friendship. But we are on a journey and we are not alone. After all, the one who said, “I have called you friends” is no other than our Lord Jesus Christ and he is walking with us in this journey. He is our friend, we are friends, and if we persevere in those relationships, we will make more friends into life and life with Christ.
John 15:9-17
Summary
We are called to abide in the love that Jesus offers and to offer that love to others. That relationship can be called friendship. Jesus made us his friends that we may befriend our neighbors.
Sermon
Who doesn’t need friends? In a world where loneliness is so present we all need that person we can lean on. Remember the movie “Lean on Me”? It told the story of how people working together in love, cooperation, and friendship were able to overcome the odds and bring a High School in a torn down neighborhood to the academic level needed to avoid its closing. I’m not sure how many have actually seen the movie, but probably more have heard the song. I particularly enjoy the line that goes, “Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on, for it won't be long, 'til I'm going to need somebody to lean on."
Friendship is perhaps one of the most precious things in life and the word friend can be used of anyone with no distinction. Our brother or sister may be a friend; our spouse or co-worker; our fellow church member or neighbor; someone alike or someone different. In fact the translation of the word used in our text, philous, is “loved one.” In our culture, the word is sometime watered down though it is commonly accepted that friendship implies a relationship, with certain familiarity, reciprocal support, and trust. The depth with which the word friend is employed will significantly vary with the user.
I must confess that my choice has been over the years to give considerable weight to friendship. I have definitely subscribed to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote: “A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud.” And, as many do, I have often used the qualifier “best friend” to refer to a very few people in this life because, unfortunately, like many, I have not been always sure whether I could actually trust and “think aloud” with a so-called friend. As humans we often fail and our mutual trust is broken.
But friends are precious and the use of the word becomes powerful when it comes from Jesus. “I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from the Father.” What a flattering remark for his disciples! They were imperfect; very often, full of doubts; had limited understanding, and were not even sure who this man Jesus was. But they stuck to the relationship. They were there most of the time and they only fled under the threat of the authorities that crucified the Lord. In the end, however, as they grew in faith and understanding, they remained faithful to Jesus who had offered them friendship.
The passage seems to indicate that friendship is a two-way road but a road that we begin to tread. Jesus set the example as he laid his life for all of us. He said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay one’s life for one’s friends.” As a matter of fact, laying one’s life for a friend was part of the definition of friendship in those days. The other expectation of a friend was “frankness of speech.” And that was exactly was Jesus offered his disciples: his life for them and the honest telling of all the things that the Father had told him. But it began with Jesus’ offer. This is the kind of friendship that is not built on expectations but on giving.
Friendship is a relationship that is built on love. On the love of God sublimely expressed in Jesus Christ and His saving grace. We were loved by God to abide in love. It is love what makes God so attractive! There is no thought as powerful as that one that the God creator of the whole universe loves me. And that is an unfailing love. Everything in the world may come to an end; the markets may collapse; society go into turmoil. War may destroy us, and we may be left hungry, naked, and dispossessed. But, as Paul put it: “For I’m convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Such is the love offered in friendship by Jesus and the commandment follows that we love one another as he loved us.
Friendship is a relationship; a two-way relationship between God and human beings and also among humans themselves. We need God and we need each other. We were created to be related to one another. Not many things in life are as obvious as the fact that we are relational beings. The greatest moments in life take place when we are surrounded by people. When we are born, baptized, married, and we have children of our own; when we gather to eat and be merry; when we worship and pray, and even when we join to celebrate the life of those who pass. The mark of those moments and of a life of friendship with God and others is joy. Joy, that exhilarating feeling, so difficult to explain. That sense of goodness, happiness, and wholeness. Joy is the experience of heaven on earth when we have an anticipation of that peace that passes understanding and we want the world to stop. Unfortunately, in this world, joy is perhaps just a snapshot of what is to come.
Jesus words are compelling and soothing: “I have said these things to you so that my joy be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” Isn’t this good news? What other thing could the Gospel be than Jesus’ friendship? In this postmodern age, more than ever, the Good News of hope, salvation, and peace are going to be spread through friendships, especially in a world where many “outsiders” to Christianity are still offering us hospitality and friendship. The joy of Jesus’ friends who offer friendship unconditionally can and will make a difference in the world.
Friendship is a relationship that bears fruit. Jesus said, “… I chose you. And I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last…” When a tree or a plant bears fruit there is a purpose that is fulfilled. And fruit is related to life because it contains the seeds of life so that the tree or plant will give life. Jesus’ friendship is life giving because he laid down his life for us. And, as it was mentioned before, laying one’s life for one’s friends was part of the ancient definition of friendship. In our age, friendship is perhaps taken a little more lightly. We have many relationships that are sometimes shallow, other times deeper. Yet, the love of God urges us on to love sacrificially. We are being stretched day by day by the love that took Jesus all the way to the cross.
By offering friendship we can offer life; the life of Christ that is in us. That is the kind of quality life that the world needs. It is not just the spiritual life; it is life at its fullest where needs are met through friends; spiritual and material needs. Offering friendship implies building community, as we offer it gratuitously to everyone; to those who are near and to those who are far; to those who look just like us and to those who look quite different. The church is a rudiment of that kind of community where life is offered through friendship; friendship rooted in the life of Jesus Christ.
As we look into our own lives, our relationships, our victories, and failures, we may come to the conclusion that we are barely beginning to grasp the meaning of receiving Jesus’ friendship and offering it to others. Perhaps we can scarcely sow some seeds of that friendship. But we are on a journey and we are not alone. After all, the one who said, “I have called you friends” is no other than our Lord Jesus Christ and he is walking with us in this journey. He is our friend, we are friends, and if we persevere in those relationships, we will make more friends into life and life with Christ.
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