John 15:9-17

John 15:9-17 = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = “I Have Called You Friends”

May 17, 2009 = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = By Rev. Kathy McDowell

Are you o= n Facebook?

That̵= 7;s a new question that has sprung up in our American culture in the last year or two.

Are you o= n Facebook?

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Facebook, of course, is a pretty new technol= ogical phenomenon that helps people stay connected.

It’= s part of what has to be called a wave= of social technologies sweeping the U.S. right now.

It’= s about using technology to help us stay connected socially.

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Facebook works like this: when you sign up h= ave a profile page which shows your photo and tells something <= /p>

(whatever= you want to tell) about who you are.

You can p= ost comments on your page, which is called your wall, or on the pages of your friends.

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Friends a= re technically the people you’ve given access to your facebook page which also gives them the ability

to write = comments on your page. The way y= ou add to your friends list on Facebook is that <= /o:p>

people se= nd you emails asking to be your friend, a click or two later, and that person and his/her picture is added to your friends list on your page.

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I am on <= span class=3DSpellE>Facebook, but I am the worst friend ever. =

I never m= ake comments on other people’s walls. I never report on what I’m do= ing.

I even ta= ke forever to answer friend requests.

For one t= hing, I have enough trouble keeping up with my email, much less facebook.

That̵= 7;s because I am really thinking about this technology.

Does Facebook real= ly help me connect and share with the people in my life, like their website sa= ys?

As I have= been thinking, I’ve had lots of conversations about F= acebook with lots of different people,

from fell= ow pastors to family and friends.

My oldest= son Matt said to me, “Mom, you’re thinking too much about this.”

He says h= e simply uses it like a rolodex to keep track of people and what they’re doing= in their lives. .

But other= people I have talked to express concerns:

Facebook can be addictive.

You get i= n front of your computer and spend hours checking out all your friends’ Facebook pages.
Another concern is that Facebook encourages an eavesdropping mentality.

ThereR= 17;s a connection but no real relationship.

What Woul= d Jesus Do - with Facebook?

The answe= r to that is really beyond the scope of the scriptures.

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But Jesus= does have something to teach us about friendship.

For being loved and called by Jesus = calls us into a community of friends,

a community that loves one another a= nd bears fruit.

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We rarely= think about friendship as a spiritual practice,

not like = we think about practices like communion, baptism, prayer, and Bible study.

But in today’s scripture reading from John, Jesus teaches us that friendship= is what makes it possible

to be a c= ommunity that loves and bears fruit.

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The idea = of friendship has long been the subject of philosophers and thinkers.

Back in Aristotle’s day, he talked about three categories of friendships that still have meaning today.

There are= the useful friendships - business associates, people you exchange business cards with,

professio= nal organizations, trade associations, neighborhood associations, sometimes swi= m or tennis clubs.

These peo= ple are friends because the relationship is useful to us.

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There are= the pleasurable friendships - A good example of this is people with whom you sh= are a hobby.

There are= a couple of ladies in this church who have belonged to a quilting group for years.

James, my= son, has a group of friends which only gets together to play ultimate Frisbee. <= o:p>

Some of y= ou may have golf partners which get together just to play golf. =

These fri= ends have a common interest which is enjoyable for all.

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But somet= imes out of these acquaintances and associates that we have for business or pleasure, deeper, truer friendships develop. We don’t have that many of these in our life, because this kind of friendship takes a degree of mutuality and intimacy that we could not sustain with everyone we meet.[1]

When I wa= s young, someone once told me that I should consider myself fortunate if =

I have tw= o or three good friends over the course of a lifetime.

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One of my favorite authors says this about these deep and true friends:

“Ba= sically your friends are not your friends for any particular reason.

They are = your friends for no particular reason.

The job y= ou do, the family you have, the way you vote, the major achievements and blunders = of your life,

your reli= gious convictions or lack of them, are all somehow set off to one side when the t= wo of you get together.

You meet = with a clean slate every time.”[2]

In today&= #8217;s reading from John’s gospel, Jesus calls us friends, friends in the deepest and truest way.

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Let me gi= ve you some background on the context of this scripture, which has become known as Jesus’ Farewell Address, his last teaching before he was crucified. <= o:p>

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Jesus is = sitting with his friends, his little band of followers.

It is the= Last Supper, according to John’s gospel, but this is the gospel account wh= ere the cup and the bread are not mentioned. Instead, Jesus has just washed his disciples’ feet, in an amazing example of servan= thood.

And as he= sits with them that evening, he teaches them.&n= bsp;

He tells = them what they will need to know and do to sustain the way, the truth, and the l= ife he has taught them.

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In today’s reading the heart o= f the matter comes in v. 12. <= /o:p>

This is my commandment - that you lo= ve one another as I have loved you. =

And then = he gives a concrete example. No one has greater life than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend= s.

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When the disciples heard that, they must have wondered.

Now this wasn’t exactly a foreign idea for them, because in the Greco-Roman wo= rld, sacrifice for the sake of another was the ideal of friendship - even if it = was rarely realized. <= /span>

But remem= ber that these disciples didn’t know that Jesus would be crucified.
Even when Jesus insisted that he would have to suffer and die, they didn’t believe him.

But as we= hear this 2000 years later, after going through Lent and Easter once again, we remember.

Jesus did lay down his life for his friends.

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The sacri= ficial life seems like more of a challenge that most of us want to take on.

But even = Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, “Only a life lived for others is worth living.”

Other-cen= tered living is a critical part of our Christian walk, our Christian discipleship= .

The very essence of Christianity is community. =

As Christ= ians, we are the Body of Christ, working together to be Christ in the world.

Our life together is an essential pa= rt of the practice of being Christian.

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What make= s that difficult is that we don’t always value community over self.

The idea = of community doesn’t come naturally in modern western culture.

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This is d= ifferent from traditional communities of people

who define themselves by their ties to each other.

There is = an old African proverb that goes like this: “I am because we are, and becaus= e we are, I am.”

The stren= gth of both I and we come from the interdependence.

But it= 217;s almost more than we can wrap our minds around.

“I = am because we are?” The very idea flies in the face of the rugged individualism so prized by our culture.

Our value= tends to be “I am because of what = I have made of myself!”

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“I = am because we are” is also in direct opposition to the materialism which= is so ingrained in our culture, a value that sounds more like “I am because of what I have.”

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These two= values are insidious and infiltrate all of our relationships, including the church.

In an article I recently read, one pastor describes it this way:

“Th= ink about it. Once a week we go to church (a religious building) rather than seeing ourselves as the church. <= o:p>

As good c= onsumers we typically choose a church on the basis of our own preferences, convenien= ces, and needs. =

Since we&= #8217;re conditioned to assume that “the customer is always right,” we believe we have the right to have things our way. If one church fails to please us, = we simply shop for another that will. <= /span>

Since the= re are only so many of us religious consumers to go around, churches have to compe= te with one another to acquire and keep as many consumers as possible.

This, of = course, puts pressure on pastors to sweeten the religious product they’re peddling by adding as many blessings as possible to their message and by refraining from saying or doing anything that might drive consumers away.” He goes on: “Welcome to “McChurch,” where= you are served a gospel tailor-made to suit your personal tastes and needs - one that never confronts you or causes you any discomfort.”[3]

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But “have it my way” is = not the Jesus way.

The Jesus= way is the way of love, the way of service, the way of sacrifice, the way of the cross, the way of laying down one’s life for a friend. It is a way th= at invites us to be interdependent, rather than independent.

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***There = is an old story that illustrates this well.

There was= a good and saintly man who lived upon the earth, and one day God visited him and t= old him: =

“Yo= u have been a faithful follower of mine all these years.

You have = sought to know me and to do my will. I will reward your goodness by answering any question you have.” The go= od man did not even have to think for a moment.

Quickly h= e said, “I have read all of the words of Scripture, but I still do not have a clear idea of what heaven and hell are like. I would ask that you help me understand.”

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Suddenly,= this good man was transported through time and space until he found himself stan= ding before the gates of hell. But= it was not at all what he had expected.

Before hi= m were magnificent black gates and through them he could see a huge banquet room w= ith long tables

filled wi= th the most delicious and aromatic foods you could ever imagine.

Around th= e tables were seated all of the residents of hell.&= nbsp;

And yet t= here was something terribly wrong. The diners sat around the table with great long spoons in their hands. They w= ere shrieking with hunger, fainting with their thirst in that terrible place.

They trie= d to feed themselves, but gave up, for the spoons provided were so long that they could not reach their faces and bring the spoons to their mouths.

The food = was plentiful, but they were starving in front of it.

The peopl= e were arguing and shouting, and screaming.

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Just as s= uddenly the good man was again transported thru time and space

till he f= ound himself standing before the gates of heaven.

As he loo= ked, he realized with some dismay that things looked very much like they did in hell.

There wer= e the magnificent banquet tables in a huge banquet room, the tables were filled w= ith the most delicious foods, the magnificent aromas filled the room. Again the diners had been given these great long spoons.

Yet, the = screams and shouts and cries were gone, the curses had changed to blessings. For with these same long spoons, t= he people were pleased to load up their spoons with this sumptuous food, and r= each across the table and to feed a friend.”[4]

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Just like= the magnificent food at the banquet tables, the love of Christ is not to be kep= t to our selves.

Jesus has= called us his friends, chosen us, and loved us. That love flows thru each of us, bringing hope, nurturing faith, changing lives. It’s up to us to pass it on, = and as we do, we become the body of Christ in the world.

Thanks be= to God. Amen.