I Am Your Friend/What's In Your Bag?
Posted on May 10, 2015 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
Once again this week, our gospel text begins with words of comfort from Jesus. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love” (15:9). What a beautiful statement and one that is intended to offer comfort, but then just a few verses later, Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 1No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you” (15:12-14). Is this one of those words of comfort that is conditional? I love you, you are my friend, but this is only true if you follow my commands: is this a conditional promise?
Well, today being Mother’s Day, I decided that this was a question that every mother could answer. So, moms, my guess is that from the moment you had your first child you began teaching them. Is that right? And, as they grew up, or as they are growing up, you continued to teach them and at times even gave them “rules” that they had to follow. Is that right? Why did you do these things? Because you loved them! But, what about when they failed to follow the rules? What about when they intentionally ignored what you told them? What happened? Did you get mad? Did you scold them? Did you stop loving them? You most likely scolded them. You most likely punished them, but I feel pretty confident in saying that you never stopped loving them and they never stopped being you child, did they.
That is the message Jesus offered his disciples on the night before he died. Look he was saying to them, you have heard me teach you how to live. You have seen how to live, now, it is time for you to do the same and if you really love me, then you will do these things not because I told you, but because you know I love you, I am always here for you and that I want the best for you. I chose you, said Jesus.
And Jesus took it a step further by saying to his followers, you are my friends. Now in that culture to be a friend was very special. You see, in the ancient near east culture, it went without saying that to call someone a friend, meant that that person you called friend was someone you would be willing to die for no matter what. I think mothers understand this very clearly and we can learn much from mothers and it is good that we give thanks for the gift of motherhood. One of my very best friends is my mom and my absolute best friend, my wife, Jill, is a mom, and as I watch my kids and how they call Jill so often and talk to here, they too, see her as a friend. Jesus says that this kind of familial relationship ought to be the same type of relationship we can have with others in our lives, as well.
Think about it, Jesus knows he is going to die the next day, he knows the pain and sorrow and agony his friends will go through and he wants to offer them words of comfort and hope and so he says, you are my friends. I will always be here for you, and you will always be able to count on me, although they won’t get that full meaning until after the resurrection. Jesus knows what is coming. He knows there will be times when his followers will experience pain and sorrow and he wants them to know that he will always be there for them to lean on. He will always be there to offer his strength.
In a few minutes we are going to sing a song entitled “Lean on Me.” Actually, this song wasn’t written as a religious song. No, it was written and recorded by Bill Withers in 1972 as a song about human friendship. But if you listen to the lyrics, I think it is a song that Jesus might have sung on the last night he was with his disciples:
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Jesus knew he was going to need his friends to lean on beginning that night. Unfortunately they ran away when he needed them, but we also know the rest of the story. Actually, Jesus didn’t need them during his crucifixion. No, what the disciples came to understand was that he needed them after his resurrection. Jesus calls us friends and now, in this world, in this dangerous, broken world, he needs to lean on us to do his work. He sends us into this world to bring about peace in a violent world, to offer hope to in a world that looks hopeless, and to be friends to those who think they are friendless. In this world, Jesus wants us to know that we can lean on him and he is here to be our strength, but he also is leaning on us. He is counting on us to fill ourselves with his love, his strength his wisdom and with his forgiveness and then we are to go share those gifts with the world.
In just a little over a week, I will be going on sabbatical and shortly after that, many of you will begin your summer plans, as well. Next Sunday, we will bring the Season of Easter to a close and we will prepare for Pentecost and that long season of ordinary time that will follow. A time in the church in which we lift up the many ways we are called into the world. But as we prepare to go out, I pray we ask ourselves, “Have we packed everything we need?” Oh, as you travel, I bet you will remember your clothes, your toiletries, your sun screen, and all those necessities, but what about those things that Jesus tells us to always have in our bags, everyday so that we might befriend the world? When you go into the world, do you remember to back your bag with love, kindness, compassion, humility, patience, forgiveness, and joy? Do you fill your bag with these gifts so that as the world leans on you, you can offer them these things?
Keeping our bags packed is not always easy, but it is something we need to be intentional about. As a staff we have discussed this and we would like you to take a look at this video…
So, what is in your bag? I know if you are like me, many times the bag I do carry is too full to put more stuff in, so to make sure you have room in your bags this summer as you go out, we want to give each of you a bag (staff and ushers will begin handing them out) and we hope you take it with you wherever you go this summer. As we did last summer with our water bottles, take a picture with your bag wherever you are and send it to us, so we can share it with the community, and as you go about your business this summer, we also encourage you to bring back in your bags those things that you receive from the world as you befriend the world and be willing to share them when you return.
But no matter where you go, and no matter what you do, may this bag be a reminder to you to pack those gifts that the world needs and may it be a reminder to you that no matter what, you have a friend in Jesus and he will always be there for you to lean on, and in return, know that Jesus is counting on you to be his presence in this world. Amen