An inspirational writer described friendship like this, "There comes that mysterious meeting in life when someone acknowledges who we are and what we can be, igniting the circuits of our highest potential."
All people crave friendship, but true friendship isn't always easy to find. Friendship is a gift, a relationship where people can share their greatest sorrow and their greatest joy. Beyond that, true friends help us to be successful people!
Believing that my friends would be supportive of the work that I do, and hoping to get a little inspiration for this sermon, I sent out emails to several people and asked them the following question, "What is it like to be considered as Jesus' friend?"
I got responses from a few brave souls who were bold enough to share their thoughts despite the possibility that I might relate them to you today. Some talked about their relationship with Jesus in the context of their ability to talk to him about anything and their faith that Jesus would never cast them aside. Their responses are a beautiful reflection about all the qualities that make Jesus the perfect candidate for a lifelong friendship.
However, that wasn't the question that I originally asked.
Read Jesus' words one more time….. "Instead, I have called YOU friends."
Now read my original question again, "What is it like to be considered as Jesus' friend?"
Did you recognize the difference that time???? Jesus is telling us that WE are HIS friends!!!!
When I shared this thought with a co-worker, she stared at me with a look of horror on her face. "Wait a minute", she said. "Jesus said that we are HIS friends???? Boy is THAT intimidating. How can we EVER live up to that?"
Sociologists describe friendship as a gradual reciprocal process that includes self-disclosure, glued together by intimacy. Friendship begins when one person takes the risk of disclosing personal information that tests whether the other will reciprocate.
In today's text, the word Philos, translated as friend, is the Greek word for loved one. It describes the basis for our relationship with Jesus.
However, being loved by Jesus is not without its consequences. Jesus makes it clear that being his friend, or loved one, carries with it certain expectations. His friends, those he first loved, WILL bear good fruit. These good fruits are a natural expression of the process of reciprocity and self-disclosure that Jesus sets into motion by first calling us his friend…
This relationship…… this friendship…. it is ALL in his hands.
Today's reading from John's Gospel is the finale for last week's Gospel lesson. As a whole, both of these readings are a part of what is known as the Farewell Discourse where Jesus compares himself to a vine that feeds and nourishes its branches.
This discourse is what we might describe today as a "pep talk." Its central message is based on Jesus' relationship with God. Out of that relationship, God's love flows through him and nourishes his disciples to produce good fruit. So too, Jesus, abiding in God's love, nourishes his disciples.
This constant flow of God's abundant love empowers all of Jesus' friends to bear good fruit….fruit that will last.
Jesus has chosen us as his friends, grafted us onto the vine where we receive God's abundant love that produces healthy branches. Just as the branches of a vine naturally bear good fruit of its kind, those who are a part of Jesus' vine naturally bear the good fruit of God's love to the community of faith and beyond.
We do not need to worry about our own inadequacies because Jesus is the driving force of our relationship. HE is the one who initiates the relationship. HE is the one who gave up his life for us as a sign of God's love and HE is the glue of intimacy that binds us together in a relationship that is life-giving and joyful.
God's abundant love is evident in the good fruits that flow through people like Rick Cesar. A parishioner of Cross Lutheran Church and a registered nurse who worked at a nearby local hospital, Rick began noticing that many of the patients coming into the E.R. weren't seeking emergency medicine. They were seeking primary medical care. Many of them were unemployed or underemployed, living below the poverty level with no health insurance or government assistance.
Seeing that these people in his community had nowhere else to turn, Rick had the idea to begin seeing patients in the church's basement where he provided basic primary care. Then, through another parishioner, he met a resident intern who was also passionate about medicine and helping people in need. The two teamed up to officially open a clinic that has since grown into a roster of volunteer physicians including primary care doctors, a psychologist, neurologist, physical therapist, pharmacist, and podiatrist.
This elaborate network of volunteers and resources has made it possible to turn a $1 donation into $10 of medical care -- an invaluable benefit to a community that's often barely scraping by.
A story such as this one is only one example of how God's love is poured out for the world through the good fruit of God's people.
Good fruit begins with an understanding that God cares for all of creation and that all are worthy of being cared for. Good fruit blossoms when we recognize that each of us possess unique talents and passions. Good fruit lasts when we place those gifts in God's hands all the while being open to the possibility for using those gifts for the sake of others.
Like Rick, each of us has gifts that have the capability of carrying God's abundant love into the world. What are the gifts and passions that God has given to you? Have you shared them with your fellow workers in Christ? If not, perhaps now is a good time to do just that. After all, God HAS promised to give us what we ask for when we bear the good fruit that flows out of God's abundant love.
Today, we have come face to face with the one who acknowledges who we are and what we can be. HE is the one who ignites and sustains the circuits of our highest potential.
This is what Jesus does for you and for the world when he calls us his friends.
