Friends. Just the word stirs my memory banks of those the Lord has put into my life over the years. Many of those people still claim a piece of my heart to this day. It has saddened my heart in the past when people have related that they do not have any friends. The ministry can be a lonely place, but the Lord has met that need for Deb and me in spades. It is rare that people don’t seek others. We all have a need for a connection with someone else. We are hard-wired to be around others. That’s one of the beautiful things about being a church member, being with like-minded people. Chemistry is a good word when thinking about friendship. An official definition for a friend varies depending which dictionary you choose. One that I liked said a friend was “attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.” I buy that to a certain degree, but if we want to see what friendship truly, is we go to the Bible. The Bible is our foundation, and friendship is one of the subjects it speaks often about. Just do a quick word search about verses in the Bible and friendship. Verses will begin to come across your phone or computer, giving passages and stories about friendship. The traits of a true friend will be things such as a confidant, loyalty, reliability, empathetic, encouraging, accepting, sacrificial, truthful, respectful, generous and loving. I am sure we could add some other traits but these should be in our lives toward people we claim friendship.
Dr. Elmer Towns taught me Christology sometime around 1977. A great part of that semester was spent in the Gospel of John. He had each of the students give each chapter of John a title so years down the road we would be able to know the address of certain things and people. I wrote these titles next to the chapters in my Bible. John 15 had the title “Christ the vine.” While that was the official title in his Christology class, something else in the chapter gave me great joy as well for 50 years. Notice 15:12-15. “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
1. We have the gift of friendship with Jesus. “You are my friends” (v.14). “I have called you friends” (v.15). Receiving gifts can bring great joy just as giving gifts can do the same. We put our faith in Jesus and He gave us the gift of salvation. We had the privilege of being born and received the gift of life. James 1:17 says “Every good and perfect gift is from above…” Wonderful gifts, one after another is ours from our sweet Lord. John 15 lets us know about the gift of friendship with Christ. We don’t deserve any of these gifts and yet Jesus called these men no longer servants, but friends. I don’t mind being called a servant, a bond-slave, of Christ, but because Jesus loves us we can be friends. How awesome is that?
2. We have the opportunity to grow in that friendship. At one point in the relationship of Jesus and the disciples, they were simply men who were willing to submit themselves to the Lord Jesus. But the relationship grew and so can ours. A wonderful song from years gone by is “More about Jesus.” The lyrics teach us a great truth. “More about Jesus would I know, more of his grace to others show, more of his saving fulness see, more of his love who died for me. More about Jesus let me learn, more of his holy will discern, Spirit of God my teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me.” I’ll probably be singing this song all day today.
3. We have goals to reciprocate for that friendship. 15:12, Jesus gives us a commandment. What is it? “That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” Loving our friends is to be front and center in our Christian life! 15:13, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. We show we are the friend of Jesus by helping others in their lives. That help can come in many different packages. Telling a friend the truth can be one of those. We don’t let them continue in their delusion when they have strayed. Jesus shared with these men conversations He had with the Father. They became privy to things they had never known. He was moving them along in the process. That’s what friends do, they move their friends farther down the road to spiritual maturity.
Are you a friend of Jesus? One final thought about, “Are we friends of Jesus?” Look at v. 14. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” The path to friendship is always tied to obedience to Christ.