WHAT A FRIEND!!!
It has been said that the World today courtesy Globalization resembles a spider’s web. Well…the unique thing about the spider’s web is that you touch any part of it, the whole web starts vibrating in due course. So it’s hardly surprising that the Friendship day first “pioneered” and heralded by a small South American Country namely Paraguay on 20th July, 1958 would have its ramifications on the whole world what with UN Declaring in due course (on April 27th, 2011 to be more precise) that “World Friendship Day” would be observed on July 30th of every year. In India we celebrate it on every first Sunday of August. It has also been declared by UN that the little adorable bear “Winnie the pooh” would be its global friendship mascot.
Be that as it may, the immortal song “What a friend, we have in Jesus” was written by a faithful Christian Joseph Scriven long before (in 1856) the first Friendship day was observed globally. He who had experienced Lord’s inimitable friendly embrace (read great comfort- 2 Cor 1:3-4 ) in the midst of his own personal tragedies let his sentiments from deep within his heart flow copiously out in the form of that memorable song.
What makes the Saviour our unique friend? Well, Yours truly in this month of August (at a time the World celebrates the World Friendship day) endeavors to bring to his readership the unique friendship traits in Christ the Redeemer and the responsibility that comes our way on being beneficiaries of the same…
Conquer…
Let it be said that it takes a great act of selfless love to win over the heart of a person. Our Lord’s friendship credentials of portraying sacrificial love is best captured in this Scripture portion which reads thus…
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,…”- Rom 5:10
Hey, we have heard that heroes’ are born to kill enemies. Indian Scriptures for instance abound with tales of donning of avatars’ by deities specifically for destroying evil men but how’s this for reversal of roles? Here we have the sinless, Holy one of Eternity donning “flesh and blood” specifically for dying for the “eternal spiritual welfare” (read salvation) of His enemies who wouldn’t hesitate to crucify Him!
When the import of this sacrifice registers on any sane individual, his natural response would be of seeking friendship with such an individual who would go to any extent for ensuring the former’s welfare. I am no exception either. On October 16th, 1983 as the nuances of the Gospel were being explained to me, I sought and sealed my “Friendship pact” with the ONE who stooped (Boy…to what levels!- Phil 2:4-11 ) to conquer my heart.
Covenant…
In the manner Prince Jonanthan entered into a Covenantal relationship with lowly Shepherd boy…David and symbolically sealed it by donation of his robe and armour (1 Sam 18:1-4 ), our Lord too when we receive Him as “Lord of our lives” (Rom 10:8-10 ) enters into a Covenantal relationship with us by “donation” of His Holy Spirit which He deposits in our hearts (2 Cor 1:22 / Eph 1:13-14 ). It is by this marvelous provision (of His own Spirit-need to experience it to understand it perfectly) at the point of regeneration of a Christian (read his born again experience) that the Lord gives the Christian the needed resources to fulfill the terms of the Eternal Covenant which simply put is all about living as per His will at all times (1 Cor 10:31 ).
While on the subject it would serve us well to understand meaning of the word “Covenant” (in Hebrew Berith and in Greek Diatheke) clearly by distinguishing it from its “look-alike”…hmmm… “Contract”, which has been mistaken by many to be its synonym, when in fact it is not! While both of have conditions to be fulfilled between those who are party to it, the word Contract is usually used to typify an agreement between two parties of same stature (eg…a building contract between the Landowner and a Building contractor) whereas Covenant signifies a binding agreement between two parties, one of whom is surely greater than the other. While Biblically one between a Prince and a Shepherd, Saviour and the Sinner perfectly matches the definition of a Covenant, in the earthly realm…a Marriage or a Will left behind by a father can be best examples of a Covenant.
Digging a little more deep into the Covenant between Jonanthan-David, one would observe that while Jonanthan would time and again keep his promises even by putting his own life in danger at times (I Sam 20:1-34 ), David too would fulfill his vows at the proper time by virtually adopting Jonanthan’s son namely Mephibosheth as his own and granting him all the privileges that go with it (2 Sam 9 ). By the same token in our Saviour-Sinner covenant while our Eternal Saviour cum Friend Christ would never abandon or forsake us (Heb 13:5-6 ), we at no point of time, ought to turn our backs to Him (Heb 10:38-39 ).
Charity…
In response to the Savior’s act of genuine friendship, it would serve us well to introspect our own relationship with our fellow Christians…especially those of who are new to faith. Our Friendship should be marked by absolute humility and even lack of envy (ingredients of genuine love- 1 Cor 13:4-5 ) should they “move ahead of us in spiritual matters…like say in the matter of acquisition of greater Biblical knowledge”.
Jonanthan-David relationship foreshadowed in a way the one between “Senior in age and Ministry” John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus Christ. With the advent of David, though Jonanthan’s (who had been “in the scene” all along) popularity amongst the masses in matters of courage may have relatively dipped (remember Jonanthan virtually taking on many of his enemies single-handedly and slaughtering them?- 1 Sam 14:1-15 ), he would stick to David through thick and thin even putting his life (I reiterate) at peril ( 1 Sam 20:1-34 ). Similarly John the Baptist who considered himself as the “Friend of Jesus” would wisely observe that Christ must become greater than him (John 3:29-30 ) though the Baptist himself was Senior to his relative Jesus (Luke 1 ) both in age as well as in “Ministry experience”.
In stark contrast to this exemplary friendship, stands the relationship (as an eyesore, I must add) fiendish Saul the senior had with David. Ditto with the Senior Jewish religious leaders and Christ!!! Hmmmm…history keeps repeating. Sometimes we see scenes of Cain vs Abel being replayed (Fiendish Pope vs Martin Luther)…with the senior one exuding envy and rage however mercifully we see scenes of Jonanthan and David also getting replayed inside the Church…those of quiet, admirable grace (in the Indian context Bakth Singh graciously mentoring the younger albeit rapidly maturing Church members whom he was mentoring).
With young maturing Christians (who may be becoming more popular than us) are we being a “fiend or a friend”? Time to reflect seriously…
Comfort…
For a while, let’s remain in the realm of inter-personal relationships within the Church. If the Lord in the capacity of an everlasting friend keeps comforting us in trouble (2 Cor 1:3-5 ) by the indwelling presence of the Eternal Comforter (John 15:26 ), then should we not do the same in our relationships with our fellow Christians? Yes, is the emphatic answer!!!
Friend is one who loves us at all times (Pro 17:17 ) especially by comforting us during adverse times. Now who would go in search of fugitive David in the forests to comfort and encourage whilst he was on the run, fleeing from the murderous, envious King Saul? No prizes for guessing!!! It was Jonanthan (1 Sam 23:16-18 )!!!
Ditto with one Mr. Onesiphorus (heard of him? Boy…he may not be spoken of in the same tone as Paul or Peter by us)!!! Let Apostle Paul himself issue a “friendship certificate”, so to speak, to this resident of Ephesus. Let the Scripture take over at this stage…
“As you know, all the Christians who came here from Asia have deserted me; even Phygellus and Hermogenes are gone. May the Lord bless Onesiphorus and all his family because he visited me and encouraged me often. His visits revived me like a breath of fresh air, and he was never ashamed of my being in jail. In fact, when he came to Rome, he searched everywhere trying to find me, and finally did. May the Lord give him a special blessing at the day of Christ’s return. And you know better than I can tell you how much he helped me at Ephesus.”- 2 Tim 1:15-18 (TLB)
On the subject of comfort, on the flipside are the “friends” of Job. It has been said that with the kind of friends Job had, he did not need any more enemies (that they would repent eventually on Divine intervention is a different matter altogether- Job 42:7-10 ). Rather than comforting Job in the midst of his severe troubles, there they were attributing Job’s travails to his “secret sins” (Job 11:14-15 ) virtually rubbing salt into his wounds. No wonder, Job calls them “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2-TLB )!!!
Time to introspect…do we belong to Jonathan’s genre or Job’s “friends” category?
Confide…
There are no secrets hidden between friends. Do you have any pressing problems the details of which cannot be revealed to anyone of this World? Then do a Joseph Scriven, bring it in prayer before your most trustworthy friend…Jesus.
Conversely does God hide His plans from His friends? No way!!!
“Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence Him” declares the Psalmist. He goes on to add “With them alone he shares the secrets of his promises.” (Psalm 25:14-TLB ).
Our Heavenly Father would not hide His plans from His friend Abraham (Gen 18:17 / 2 Chro 20:7 / James 2:23 ) nor would Christ who elevated His disciples’ from the position of servants’ to that of His friends (John 15:15 ).
“The Bible was composed in such a way that as beginners mature, its meaning grows with them.” …remarked St. Augustine of Hippo wisely meaning as our Friendship with our Lord grows deeper and deeper more and more treasures of it (read secrets) become accessible to us, making us fall in greater love with Revealer of the same (Dan 2:22 )!
Oh what a friend, we have in Jesus who besides comforting us at all times keeps also confiding the Heavenly matters with us, even as we grow in Him!!! Hallelujah!!!
Yours in His service,
(Suresh Manoharan)
