What a Friend We Have! – May 5, 2024

Exodus 35:9-15, John 15:9-17
May 5, 2024

So we’re taking a step back in time today.  We’ve been looking at Easter and post-Easter stories.  But today we’re going back to that Thursday night before Easter – before the crucifixion, the time Jesus was in the upper room with his disciples.  It was the last time he would be with them, and he wanted to tell them a lot of things!  In John’s Gospel, this is what has been referred to for years as the “Farewell discourse” of Jesus.

By far, John has the most complete account of what Jesus said that night!  If you have a “Red Letter Bible,” where the words of Jesus are printed in red, this is where you find the most red letters.  John records pages of Jesus’ words here.  It’s four entire chapters, 14 through 17.  And actually the Upper Room narrative begins in 13.  So it’s five chapters.  But the real solid red letters begin in 14!

As I’ve said, Jesus was preparing his disciples for the time ahead, a time when he would be gone, and they would have to carry on.  And he had a lot to tell them!  And one of the biggest things he told them about is what I talked about last week.  He told them about the coming of the Holy Spirit.  That would turn out to be huge in the difficult days they had ahead of them!  The Holy Spirit would give them the power to go out and change the world!

Well, today I want to focus in on this passage from John 15.  Here’s where Jesus gives them again the “New Commandment.”  He actually gave that to them in Chapter 13.  And that was shocking!  To use the word “commandment” to those “good Jewish boys” was surprising, to say the least!  And it could be seen that giving them that “New Commandment” kicked off this whole farewell discourse.  It was that important!  And if you remember, the giving of that commandment was what the Church used to name that celebration.  It became known as the “Thursday of the Commandment.”  In Latin, “The Maundatum,” from which we get our word “mandate.”  We now know that day as “Maundy Thursday.”

Well here, Jesus gives them that commandment – that “mandate” – again, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  And this time he follows that with these iconic words – words that defined his love for them.  (And for us!)  He said, “And greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  And of course, Jesus was about to do just that!

That word “friends” is key here!  He made that great statement using the word “friends,” and then he continues to use that word a number of times.  It became a sort of “theme” in this part of his discourse.  He said, “You are my friends if you do as I command you.”  And that too was a great departure from the norm!  It was another thing Jesus said that would have been surprising!  I think they would have looked around at each other in astonishment.  Because it wasn’t “You are my disciples if you do as I command you.”  We might have expected that.  But no.  He said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Then he takes even that thought a little further.  “No longer do I call you servants,” he said, “because a servant does not know what the master is doing.”  In other words, a servant is not on the same level of authority and understanding as the master.  “Now, I call you friends,” he said, “because I have told you everything I have heard from the Father.”  In other words, “I’ve let you in on everything!”  “I’ve brought you up to my level in this ministry.”  And of course it would soon be only them!

As I was thinking about that this week, the words to the old hymn kept going around in my mind.  “What a friend we have in Jesus.”  (Which we just sang.)  So I made that my title for this message.  And I hope those words will be running around in your minds this week!  I hope you’ll be thinking, “What a friend we do have in Jesus!”

That’s what made this ministry what it is.  It’s not a hierarchy, but rather it’s a faith where everybody is important.  It’s a faith in which God wants a relationship with all of his people – like a parent who wants to keep in touch with their adult kids and enjoy time with them.  It’s about Jesus being our friend.  In him, God wants to share the good times of our lives with us.  And he wants to share the trials, too.  That’s another important part of Jesus being our friend.  A friend is someone we can lean on in times of trouble.  A friend is someone we can count on when things are not going so well.  That’s what a lot of the words of the old hymn imply.  Throughout those three verses, we sing things like,

Have you trials and temptations, is there trouble anywhere?
You should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our burdens share?
Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer.

I’m glad for these words we read today from John’s Gospel.  Because I think we need to be reminded, over and over again, of the promise we have that Jesus is our friend.  That’s not easy to get into our heads.  And it’s not easy to keep it there.  Because I think we get the “Lord and our savior” part.  We get that he’s “The head of the church.”  We get that he’s “The Messiah,” “The Chosen One.”  But, he’s our friend?  That one is not easy to get a handle on!

I say this today because I think we do need to be reminded of it – often!  That’s why we often talk about the same things in our faith!  Remember the two things we are promised the Spirit would do? “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”  I don’t know about you, but I need that!  I need things that Jesus said brought to my remembrance!

So today we remember his words.  “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing.  But I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my father I have made known to you.”

Today and every day, we remember that, yes, what a friend we do have in Jesus!

Prayer

Eternal God, help us to remember that Jesus is our friend.  Help us to share ourselves with him, and feel him sharing himself with us.  We thank you for the Grace you have given us through him, Grace by which we are made part of his kingdom.  And we give you glory and honor and praise, and we pray in his name, Amen.