“Living A Joy-full Life: Cherish Friendship”
Phil. 2:19-30; John 15:9-17
Developing and having good friendships is an important element in living a joy-full life. In the latter verses of Philippians 2 we get a glimpse of the joy such friendships brought to Paul. His friendship with Timothy and Epaphroditus sustained him and strengthened his relationship with the Philippian church. But it’s important to understand that they were friends because of Jesus; more particularly, they were friends with each other because they were first friends with Jesus. In fact, as one of Michael W. Smith’s classic songs put it, “Friends are friends forever if the Lord’s the Lord of them.”
I want to share with you this morning that Jesus is by far the best Friend I’ve ever had or could ever want. I want you to meet my Friend because I want you to know that JESUS WANTS TO BE YOUR BEST FRIEND. I know this because of what Jesus said.
Consider first, the INVESTMENT of Jesus. He has paid a tremendous price for our friendship. (Jn. 15:13) “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Fancy words; almost romantic. We’ve heard of the war stories of heroes who did just that in a moment of crisis. But Jesus planned on dying all along - it wasn’t a spur of the moment heroism. He intended to live and die for me. He totally spent himself for me. I didn’t earn this love, didn’t deserve it and still don’t; I’m not all that lovable. I’m an OK guy, but never could I be worthy of this. In fact, the older I grow and the longer I serve the more I realize how little I deserve such a love as Jesus’ love. Yet nothing I have done, or could do, will turn him away.
I’m reminded of a hospital in San Antonio which had a renowned burn unit. During the Viet Nam war there were two badly burned soldiers next to each other in the unit. The wife of one man came in, took one look at her husband, took off her wedding rings, put them on his chest and walked out, never to return. Two hours later the other man’s wife came in, looked at her husband and leaned over him and said, “Darling, I am here. Let’s start getting well.” (i) Jesus has come to me in the darkest, ugliest times of my life, and always, without fail, has stood by me and brought me back into the light.
That’s why I want you to meet my Friend - what’s true for me is true for you as well. I want you to be able to say today, with conviction, JESUS LAID OUT HIS LIFE FOR ME. Because He did. He wants to be your best friend.
I also know Jesus’ desire for friendship because of his offer of INTIMACY. He has given me a privileged status. Verse 15: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Think of the difference between servants and friends. Servants carry out orders even though they are unaware of how they fit into a plan or into the whole scheme of things. They just execute the orders because they are under obligation and authority. They don’t even have to agree with it - they just have to do it. They, in fact, may not even know their master. But a friend is different. There’s much more intimacy. Friends are confidants of each other’s thoughts and plans. They are in harmony with each other and seek each other’s good.
General Grant’s chief of staff, lawyer John A. Rawlins, was also Grant’s faithful friend. So it was to Rawlins that Grant made his pledge that he would abstain from intoxicating liquors. When Grant broke that pledge Rawlins went to him and pleaded with him for the sake of the nation, to refrain from strong drink. Grant responded positively to his pleas. Today, in front of our nation’s capitol, there stands a massive statue of Grant on his horse flanked on either side by stirring battle scenes. But at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue is Rawlins Park, where there stands a very ordinary statue of Rawlins. Though smaller in stature it was the faithfulness of Rawlins that kept Grant on his horse. (ii)
In similar ways Jesus has shared his heart and life with me, for my good! He has my good at heart. Through his Holy Spirit He walks with me, talks with me, encourages me, disciplines me, and strengthens me every moment of every day. He wants me to have oneness of mind and spirit with him. He wants to keep me on my horse – in line with His purpose. As I have shared before, my senior year of high school was a major disappointment for me. But looking back I wouldn’t trade it – because I came to see that my Friend Jesus carried me through. It was the period in my life where I began to understand the joy of His friendship. He sent me people to support me, surrounded me with love, and within a year had pointed my life in a totally different direction. He shared his dreams for my life with me. And his dreams became mine - and I’ve been living them ever since. And I wouldn’t, for anything, trade them for my original dreams.
So I want you to meet my Friend. What’s true for me is true for you. I’d like nothing more than for you to be able to say this morning, with conviction, JESUS SHARES HIS HEART WITH ME. He wants to so desperately that He’s given himself and his Spirit to you - with only your good in mind. He wants to be your best friend.
I’m aware of Jesus’ desire for friendship also because of his INITIATIVE. Jesus sought out a friendship with me before I ever sought one with him. Verse 16: “You did not choose me, but I chose you...” It’s not like I was in my mother’s womb wondering where I could find Jesus; yet He was already seeking me out. Through family, church, and friends He came to me. At my Baptism, although I was not aware of it, Jesus promised to guide and direct my life because He had adopted me. He was determined to have me as His friend. Imagine - knowing everything there is to know about me, still He wanted me as His friend. It’s not the quality of my life that makes our friendship - but the quality of His love. I don’t have to hide my flaws and my failures. Jesus has chosen me as I am and loves me enough to grow me into His likeness. It’s like the couple who was seeing a marriage counselor. Eventually the husband blurted out, “You know what it is? All these years I’ve been scared to death that someday she’ll break through my shell and realize what an idiot I really am!” Hey - Jesus already knows what an idiot Curry is - and still He loves me! So now I have a reason for living - to be His friend. Everything I do can revolve around that.
So I want you to meet my Friend. What’s true for me is true for you. Jesus knows you as you are, understands where you’ve been, and accepts who you’ve become and wants to grow you into His likeness. He loves you to death – His and yours! He wants you to be his friend. I pray that today you can say, JESUS GIVES ME A REASON FOR LIVING. Be his friend.
Jesus’ desire for friendship is seen as well in his INVITATION. He wants me to ask him for anything. Verse 16: “Whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” The door to his wealth and riches is wide open. All I have to do is walk through. I admit I do not fully understand Jesus’ promise, but I’ve had a lifetime of walking through the door and receiving from Him that proves it’s worth asking him! Still I’m barely beginning to comprehend what this means. I just know I do not need to worry about whether or not what I’m thinking or wanting is right to pray about. If I’m thinking it, pray it! Whatever it is, I can bring it to Jesus. Everything can be opened up to him.
Ed Cunningham once said, “Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.” For years one of the most powerful men in Washington D.C. was Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. He served with eight presidents. One day he heard that the teenage daughter of a newsman had died. Early the next morning there was a knock on the reporter’s door, and when he opened it he found Speaker Rayburn standing there. “I just came to see what I could do to help,” he said, the grieving father replied, “I don’t think there’s anything you can do, Mr. Speaker. We’re making all the arrangements.” “Well, have you all had your coffee this morning?” Rayburn asked. When the reporter said they had not, the Speaker quickly said that he would make coffee for them. While he was doing so the reporter said, “Mr. Speaker, I thought that you were supposed to be having breakfast at the White House this morning.” “Well, I was,” said Rayburn, “but I have called the president and told him I had a friend who was in trouble, and I couldn’t come.” (iii)
It sounds so much like Jesus. That’s why I want you to meet my Friend. What’s true for me is true for you. Listen: “What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a Friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer. In his arms He’ll take and shield thee, thou wilt find a solace there.” If only you can say this morning, with conviction, JESUS WANTS TO GIVE ME WHAT I NEED.
What’s true for me is true for you. Jesus wants to be your best Friend. He will be there when everyone else walks away. He will ask you over and over again how you are and then wait to hear the answer. He will be there with you when you walk through that final valley of the shadow of death so you will fear no evil. As a Christian you are Jesus’ friend. The question is, “Are you willing to make Jesus your best friend?” There comes a time when we must make best friends with Jesus or we shall have no friends at all. Make Jesus your best friend.
But let’s not forget the INJUNCTION of friendship. Jesus gives us an imperative. (14 & 17) “You are my friends if you do what I command. This is my command: Love each other.” It’s not that Jesus won’t be our friend if we don’t love. It’s just that our loving others makes it a two way friendship. It opens our relationship with Jesus to its greatest potential. I must admit that I wouldn’t know the first thing about love if it were not for Jesus. He empowers and encourages my love. And Jesus’ love and friendship models the pattern for and gives substance to our human friendships. “Friends are friends forever if the Lord’s the Lord of them.”
It was Jr. High Week at church camp. Wednesday Talent Night. It was a time for the Jr. Highers to display their talent – which meant most anything goes, from accordions and pianos to pie-in-the-face skits to songs about ‘greasy, grimy gopher guts.’ The last act of the evening was Jonathan. He was going to sing a solo. He had basically knocked around by himself so far during the week. Everybody knew he was what they called then ‘mentally disabled.’ He was a nice kid but had not been much help in team competitions. But there he was – he took the microphone, turned on the tape, and started to sing. Then it happened. Halfway through the first verse he forgot the words. He went blank. A few of the staff looked at each other wondering what to do. Jonathan pulled out of his pocket a crumpled piece of paper, on which he’d written down the words. He tried desperately to unfold that paper with his free hand, but it was shaking so badly he couldn’t do it. The tape went on without him. Some of the boys in the front row started to snicker. Jessica had been sitting on the fifth row on the left. She was a typical red-haired, freckle-faced Jr. High girl with braces on her teeth. She got out of her chair, ran onto the stage, put her arm around Jonathan’s shoulder, wrapped her hand around his on the microphone, and together they sang: ““Friends are friends forever if the Lord’s the Lord of them. And a friend will not say never for the welcome will not end.” Jonathan won the talent night. Those who were there will never forget the night. They saw Jesus in a red-haired, freckle-faced girl and in a knock-kneed Jr. High boy who just wanted to sing a song for his friends. (iv)
“You are my friends if you do what I command. This is my command: Love each other.” If the test of your friendship with Jesus is how well you are loving others, what’s your test score? Make Jesus your best friend. Open up that relationship to its greatest potential. As you leave here today, fill in the blank: I WILL LOVE __________________ THIS WEEK. Who is crying for your love? Whose feet should you wash? Who is standing alone with no one else to care? Who needs you to share their microphone and help them sing their song of life? For whom should you lay out your life?
Your Friend Jesus wants to be your best Friend. Accept his offer. Be His Friend. Live in love.
(i) Told and experienced by Jack Burton while serving in Austin TX
(ii) Clarence E. Macartney, in Moody Monthly as quoted in Knight’s Master Book of New Illustrations
(iii) As told by Clarence J. Forsberg
(iv) As related and experienced by Joe Bray
