A friend is.....
How would you finish that statement?

I'm sure you've all seen statements like:
"A friend is a pair of open arms in a society of armless people."
"A friend is a beautiful orchard in the middle of the desert."
"A friend is a hot bath after you have walked 20 miles on a dusty road."
"A friend is someone who knows all about and doesn't tell anyone."
"A friend is someone who knows the worst about you and still loves you."

Or, to quote the great authority Charlie Brown -
"A friend is someone who sticks up for you when you are not there."

They're cute statements, but you know what? They are actually rather remote for many of us. Remote because we don't have many true friends. More of us than perhaps we care to realize, walk through life without close friends.

A survey I saw recently said that 60% of men over 30 cannot identify a single person they would call a close friend. Of the 40% who list friends, most were made during childhood or school years. We used to say, "Ah, that's men for you. At least women have friends." But a closer look shows that a lot of these are functional relationships, not deep friendships.

Real friendship. An intimate relationship between people:
sharing what they have with each other at all times.
caring for each other in uncertain seasons.
standing by one another in challenging moments.
crying and stumbling together through the hard days.
laughing to the point of tears when things go well.

We live in a society that is starved for intimacy.
We live in the middle of a friendship desert.
Find a good friend and it feels like you've hit an oasis.
So refreshing. Such a change.

Well, it is in that kind of a world, one so starved of Intimacy, of close and meaningful relationships, that I present you tonight with God Almighty.
Holy and Powerful.
Seated on the Throne of the Cosmos.
Eternal Ruler of All.

On the basis of God's Word I proclaim to you that it is His desire to be close to you. When the rest of the world may go rushing by, He stops and beckons. He calls.... you.... by name, says Isaiah 43.

Hear tonight the good news that there is real, safe, lasting intimacy available to us - to each one of us. It is the intimacy of God joining Himself in close real friendship to us.

It is not an intimacy that comes because of humanity reaching brashly towards heaven. Rather it is heaven, in great love and tender mercy, reaching down to us. God's initiative, not ours.

The good news that we receive today is not news that makes God smaller or bring Him down. it doesn't cheapen or belittle Him.
It is not easy news, and not a free offer.
It is a relationship offered to us that is covered with sweat, stained with blood, and marked with tears.
The sweat, the blood and the tears of Jesus Christ.

There is one reason, and one reason alone, why Jesus - the Holy and Powerful Son of Almighty, Eternal God - came to earth.
That reason is intimacy.

Intimacy: What God desires with humanity.
That's why God called a people to Himself and made a covenant with them, the sort of covenant that Psalm 25 sings about.

Covenant intimacy - technicalities aside, a covenant is a "heart to heart agreement" between two parties, a deep and binding and lasting relationship. Covenant is the basis of the song called Psalm 25.

It is also the basis of some incredible God statements through prophets.
I think of Isaiah 43: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.... Do not be afraid, for I am with you."

I think of the main theme found in the prophecy of Hosea. Those of you who have studied your bibles, remember what it is? What picture does God give Hosea?
Right, the picture of marriage - God, the groom. His people, the bride.
The intimacy of God marrying His people.

I think of Jesus' own words: (Matthew 23.37) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem.... how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings...."
(Matthew 11.28) "Come to me, all you that are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

I think of Jesus talking to the crowds and saying, "You want a picture of how much God craves to be with you, how much He hungers for you to be at home with Himself, to enjoy and rest in His company? Let me tell you a story..... " and He proceeds with the story of the Prodigal Son and the waiting Father who longs and looks every day for his son's return. By the way, we'll look at that story, found in Luke 15, in greater detail in a few weeks.

These passages are just a few examples in a long thread of readings that form the backbone of the entire scriptures. Yes, the backbone. They are no sidebar, no tangent, no "by the way."

This is the central core of the entire message of scripture.
Not that God is working through history to strong arm a bunch of people into unwilling subservience; rounding up a chain gang of workers through the ages.
But that the God who made the first human beings, created them a garden, and put them in the garden in order that He - the Lord and Creator - could walk and talk with them in that garden -
that God is reaching beyond the ruins of human rebellion and sin, beyond the chaos of human stubbornness and rank stupidity, beyond the tragic brokenness and painful dysfunction of Creation
- beyond all that, He reaches out to people like you and I, adopting us as His own children and calling us Home. Granting us His presence. Preparing us for His eternal riches.

In that context we can read the words of Jesus in John 15. Zero in on these words: (v.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 have learned from my Father I have made known to you."

Friends! Before anything else - friends of God.
Almost too much. Imagine - "So, who's your friend?" "Jesus."
Mind-boggling! But true.

I hear the echo of 2 Chronicles 20.7, and Isaiah 41.8, where Abraham is called "Friend of God." No one else in the Old Testament is ever given that title. It is so close. So intimate.
Not slave.
Not servant.
Not even trusted servant.
But......
...... friend!!
Those words, that close title is given to everyone who is a believer in and a follower of Jesus.
Those words are your words!

When there is an intimate relationship hopes and dreams are shared. Joys and sorrows are openly exchanged. Ideas can be bounced around in freedom.
When there is an intimate relationship you can go places together, work with each other, provide a lending hand.
And, in a wonderful way, you can just be together without saying or doing anything.

Jesus calls you friend. And as friend provides you with a gift. He sends the Holy Spirit to live in you, to be your companion, guide and counsellor.

Through the ever-presence of the Spirit He celebrates our joys, and groans in our struggles (Romans 8). Never abandoning. Never double-crossing. Never distracted. Always, totally, fully -- right there.
It can't get any better than that.

Can you take time to taste that?
To let it sink in?

Friend of God, of the Son of God.
You.

Ah, refreshment in a dry, desert-like existence!
 
 

Friend......
See, then it is as a friend that Jesus comes to us -
A friend who died, the righteous for the unrighteous. Coming to live and die for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5.8). Taking us by the hand and walking us to the gates of heaven, through those gates, and right up to the throne.
Giving up everything ..... for us.

-- it is as a friend that He comes to us with a challenge and a call.

Oh - we could call it a demand. Hey, Jesus Himself calls it a command.
But it's different than the domineering demands of a great, powerful ruler to a subservient creature whom he could easily squash.
Rather, it comes as words of a friend who has given so much, sacrificed to such an incredible extent, that you hear them and know -
- way down deep inside you know -
that there is absolutely no way you could ever let these words drop to the ground unheeded.
Your friendship demands otherwise.

Chapter 15 of John tosses around the word "commandment" is a number of verses. But they all come together in v.12. There's the hub:
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

No quantum physics here, folks.
No long list to get our mind all muddled and confused.
Just eight very simple words -
Love each other as I have loved you.

You and I - we - can reflect the friendship that Jesus so richly opens to us, we can reflect and live it in the best possible way by befriending, loving and caring for our fellow human beings. Hear again echoes of 1 John 4:
"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love each other, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us."

You complete the circle of friendship with Jesus by including someone else.
Friendship is never a private thing with Jesus. You know - "Just me and my Jesus. That's all I need." The Bible knows nothing of such a thing.
Oh yes, there are times and moments when we NEED to be quietly alone, just us and the Lord. That's meditation time, and the Bible is full of examples of people - Jesus included - heading off for quiet retreats and prayer times.
BUT
they head right back from there to everyday life, to rubbing shoulders and building relationships with other people.

The bible is actually very blunt about that -
"If anyone says, 'I love God' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 Jn 4.19-21).

Any questions?
Couldn't get any clearer, could it.
Which is why the mission statement of our congregation, printed in italics on the front of the bulletin, talks about glorifying God and interacting with other people in the same sentence.

As you open your heart to others, your friendship with Jesus is strengthened.
When you take time after service to deliberately seek out and build relationships with new people.
When you make the effort to welcome others (besides your natural close circle of friends) into your home, Jesus enters with them and draws even closer to you.
When you sacrifice of your time and energy to help someone in need, Jesus smiles and says, "That's my friend. He's helping ME!"

But --
If you close yourself off from others, stick only to those in your comfort zone, zip in and out of church after the "me 'n God" time, leave it to others to answer calls that the deacons send out, never bother to seek out and befriend your neighbours --
well, don't ask too many questions about why sometimes Jesus seems rather distant and remote.

Friendship with Jesus.
An oasis in our lives. Like a pool of refreshing water. And, like any pool, the water needs to run to keep it clear. Let it run into the lives of other thirsty people, says our best friend. Yes - let it run!