Jesus as Friend
Series: Meeting Jesus Again - Part 1
2023 - A Lenten Journey
John 15:15; Matthew 9:9-12, 11:19
(based on the book Freeing Jesus, by Diana Butler Bass)
I don’t call you servants any longer, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:15 (CEB)
Listen to this week’s sermon here:
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What comes to mind when you think of a friend? Do you make friends easily or do you find yourself relatively isolated? Do you feel accepted, included and truly loved among your friend circle, or do you generally find yourself surrounded by acquaintances, colleagues or others who may not really know you for who you are? No matter how many friends you have, how often do you feel lonely?
For years, loneliness has been a growing epidemic in American culture. Consider just a few statistics below from the Barna Research Group (www.barna.com/research/friends-loneliness):
In 2018, a study from health insurer Cigna found that most Americans report feeling lonely, left out and not known. This research mirrors a host of other reports and commentary on the increasing isolation of Americans.
The majority of adults has anywhere between two and five close friends (62%), but one in five regularly or often feels lonely.
The interactions Americans have with their neighbors (those who live within easy walking distance)—which happen either weekly (39%) or daily (28%)—are usually friendly but consist mostly of a brief greeting with very little interaction otherwise (37%).
Given our cultural tendency toward individualism, isolation, lack of trust and vulnerability, overfilled schedules, fear of rejection, and countless other factors that play into our limited friendships, it may be difficult to relate when we hear Jesus calling his disciples “friends.”
Jesus, after all, is in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father, just like we say in our Creed every Sunday. We know a lot about him from the Bible or from our childhood Sunday School teachers, but do we really know him. If we’re honest, sometimes it may feel like he’s just too far away to be called a “friend.”
Religious leaders often mocked Jesus for being a “friend of sinners” (Matt 11:19). In other words, Jesus was one of those people who hung out in “the wrong friend circles.” I’m sure we’ve all met someone like that. At first we thought maybe they could be a good friend, but then we found out who they hung out with, or something they believed that we didn’t like, or they’re affiliated with the wrong political party, the wrong religion, or any other number of groups we would prefer to stay away from. Is it possible that if Jesus were still on earth, we might avoid him too, if for no other reason than we didn’t want to be associated with his friends?
Reflect this week on what friendship really means to you. Try talking to Jesus as a friend. Hang out with the kind of people Jesus hung out with. Ask others about their friendships and why they would or would not consider Jesus a close friend. Really listen to their stories.
Deep down, what emotions come up when you think of Jesus as friend?
What do you hear Jesus, your friend, saying to you?