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 “WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE . . .”

Rev. Bob Olmstead

Federated Church of El Dorado County

Placerville, California

May 17, 2009

“I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing;

but I have called you friends . . .” {John 15:15}

            During the Korean War, a soldier on the front-lines found enemy artillery exploding all around him.  He dove into a foxhole and frantically began to dig the shallow hole deeper for more protection from the hailstorm of lethal fire.  His fingers felt something metal, and when he picked it up and rubbed the dirt from it, he saw that it was a cross, left by some soldier who had been there before him.  Just then another soldier dove into the shallow foxhole; it was a chaplain.  With the sound of artillery exploding over their heads, the soldier held the cross in front of the chaplain's eyes and asked, "How do you make this thing work?"¹

            Unfortunately, when you turn the cross over there’s no little button to “turn it on.” 

            Not everybody has come under artillery fire, but there are some here who have.  Not everybody has suffered the loss of a child or a spouse, but there are some here who have.  Not everybody here has been diagnosed with cancer, but there are some here who have.  Not everybody has experienced depression, addiction, loss, disappointment, exploitation, betrayal, divorce, or unrelenting pain . . . but all of us here will have times when we wonder why our faith doesn’t grant us greater protection, comfort, or explanation.

            < hold up a cross >  “How do you make this thing . . . work?”

            There’s a clue in this morning’s Gospel lesson.  The disciples call Jesus “rabbi”, which means “teacher” - he is somebody they hope can reveal the meaning of life to them.  Sometimes they call him “Master”, because they expect him to tell them what they are supposed to do - like servants.  But in this morning’s compelling exchange between Jesus and the folks who follow him, Jesus says: “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends . . .” {John 15:15}

            Are you ready for that?  Are you ready to be a friend to Jesus?

            We are “no longer servants” - no longer running errands for Jesus.  We each have a life to live . . . and Jesus wants us to get on with our lives, going to work, raising children, getting an education, nurturing a marriage, painting pictures, telling stories to the grandchildren, singing songs, eating healthy food, sustaining friendships - including a friendship with Jesus. Jesus is a friend, not a task master, not a rule giver, not a teacher, not a template.

            Are you ready for that?

            Elie Wiesel spent much of his childhood in a Nazi  concentration camp.  He saw his father drop out of line and die beside the road on a forced march.  Since the end of that terrible war, Elie Wiesel has tried to make sense of life, of God, of faith, of evil and of good.  For his literary efforts Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize.  In one of his novels a character says, “Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love.  Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing. It is to a friend that you communicate the awakening of a desire, the birth of a vision or a terror, the anguish of seeing the sun disappear or of finding that order and justice are no more.  That’s what you talk about with a friend.”² [Elie Wiesel, The Gates of the Forest]

Jesus says, “I do not call you servants any longer, . . . but I have called you friends.”

            For this thing to “work”, we’ve got to develop a friendship with Jesus and mature friendships are not formed in a foxhole.

            How do you make friends?  Spending time together.  Sharing stories.  Lots of active listening.  Sharing a meal.  Doing things together.  Deepening friendships mean the sharing of laughter and tears.

            It’s said that women and men make friends differently.  Women talk with each other, they share their feelings, then they do things together.  Men do things together - fix a car, play softball - and they talk afterwards maybe even about feelings.  (I don’t know if that has a bearing on making friends with Jesus, but I throw it out there.)

            Here are my suggestions for developing a friendship with Jesus.

1)         Commit to life in a congregation - for this is the visible and incarnate Body of Christ.  Christ with “skin on.”

            A couple of Sundays after Easter the Scripture lesson was the familiar story of Doubting Thomas.  The disciples - all except Thomas - are gathered behind closed doors when the risen Christ appears in their midst.  When Thomas returns the others babble excitedly.  “We have seen Jesus!  He was right here!  He is alive!”  And Thomas says, “I doubt it.  You’ll have to prove it to me.” 

            Now everybody says, “Oh, Thomas is my favorite disciple, because I have so many doubts.”  And I say, “Of course you have doubts.  But that misses the point.  The point is that Christ appears in the midst of the gathered community, while Thomas was off incubating his doubts in isolation.”

            Check the record!  The resurrection becomes reality when folks are gathered together.  “Whenever two or three are gathered in my name . . .”  When Jesus first appears to Mary alone, what does he say?  He says, “Go gather the others.”

            Jesus seems to like crowds!

2)         Join or create a small group within the congregation.

            It can be a prayer group, a Bible study group, a class, maybe the choir, maybe a men’s group, maybe a book group, maybe other mothers of small children, a youth group.  Sunday morning worship is simply not enough.  Who will hold you accountable for practicing the disciplines of Christian friendship?  Who will hold you accountable for deepening your friendship with Jesus?  Who will ask if you kept your resolve to pray daily?  Who will hear your joys, heal your tears, share your laughter, and help you tell your story?  This needs to be a small group, that learns - in the company of Christ - to share deeply.

            Developing a mature faith requires two things: intentionality and accountability.

            (If you take away nothing else this morning, take away these two words: intentionality and accountability.  They are sadly lacking in the way most of us live out Christ’s friendship.)

3)         Pray the way you are able, not the way you are unable.

            In every church I served there have been those whose prayer lives went deeper than mine.  One such person in Palo Alto was named Pat Yowell.  Like all congregations we had times of stress and discord and uncertainty.  I remember telling Pat one day that I needed some of her strength and some of her faith.  I said I hoped she would pray for us to get through whatever it was that was troubling us.  And Pat said, “Bob, I don’t pray with words any more.  I just spend time with God.   ...  But I’ll think about you while I’m there.”

            There are so many different ways to pray.  Pray the way you are able, not the way you are unable.  But pray.  And talk about prayer with your small group.

4)         Read the Gospel of Mark all the way through in one sitting.  (That will take you approximately thirty minutes.)

            Then read it through once a week for four more weeks.  Read a verse, or a chapter, or a paragraph, or a page daily.  Keep a journal of your thoughts and questions and reactions.  Share your journal with your small group.  Share your questions with one of your pastors.  Pastor Andrew advises us to always read the Bible with a good commentary to give it context.  That’s good advice.  But I suggest reading Mark first with nothing but an open mind - as long as you keep a record of your questions, discuss it with a group of friends, and let your pastor know what you are doing.  (Sort of like informing your doctor before joining an exercise program.)

            After a month or two with Mark, you can move on to the Gospel of Luke, then Matthew, then John, and then the letters of Paul, and Genesis, and the Prophets - and before you know it ten years will have passed and you’ll be ready for the book of Revelation!

5)         (and finally) Do something foolish with Jesus every day.

            You want to help a friend, right?  If something is really important to a friend - and (s)he can’t do it alone - you help out.  And Jesus has many tasks he’s trying to get done - most of which are very foolish in the eyes of the world:

            . . . turn the other cheek

            . . . love your enemy

            . . . forgive 70 times 7

            . . . give away a lot of stuff

            . . . “to the ends of the world,” he says (or at least to the end of your block, or the end of your kitchen table.)

            Acting out our foolish faith is how we get it out of our head and into our bones.

            And, of course, tell your small group about the foolish things you have done to advance Jesus’s agenda; and maybe even share some of the foolish things you’re still working up the courage to do.  Because Jesus is your friend.

            Will all this guarantee that you’ll never need a foxhole, never get cancer, never again be disappointed, or betrayed, or depressed?  Of course not.  Jesus doesn’t offer guarantees, just friendship.

            “How do you make this thing work?”

            By developing a true friendship with Jesus, one that is marked by intentionality, accountability, time, and experience, in the company and companionship of others, who just may be for you the presence of the risen Christ “with skin on.”