Friends of Jesus

"Friends of Jesus" I John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17
Rev. Mark Bradshaw-Miller

Fear and guilt are some of the most popular tools for social control. This is not a new or particularly insightful statement. After all we are well schooled in these tools. From the Cold War song: “Duck and Cover” to the advice to stock up on duct tape, the voices of fear, while sometimes helpful, are prolific and not always what they seem. These truths are as old as human kind but often come into conflict with the teachings of our faith.

Jesus teaches and leads in a different way, a way based on love. And this different way is not about social control but about freedom. Unfortunately, the history of Jesus’ followers shows that we have too often used fear and guilt as tools for institutional enhancement. I do not believe this has happened because we think Jesus is wrong. Instead, the way of being a friend of Jesus, following the way of love, is rather difficult. The simple truth is that to sustain a movement on love is a lot harder than one based fear and guilt.

To hear that Jesus calls us to love one another is so cliché that to say it puts us at risk of not being heard. I think that is why, in the midst of these passages, Jesus changes gears to talk about calling his followers friends. It does not make it an easier teaching, except in our ability to grasp the concept. It is a bit easier to ask how to be Jesus’ friend, than to wrestle with; what it means to love.

We cannot walk away from hearing these passages and not know that God is love. It is also clear that our love of God, or better, the proof of our love for God is how we love God’s children. This too is not news. However, instead of focusing on the commandment to love, followers of Jesus have spent a lot of time deciding who is included in God’s family. In this way we can put a fence around the love of God. From my perspective this is nothing more than a waste of time. But even if we do spend time sorting out the family of God, Jesus makes it clear we are to love our enemies so there is really no way around the commandment to love. But once again, the history of the church is a witness not only to God’s faithfulness, but also to our attempts to figure out ways around the commandment to love. If we want to know the depth of our love for God we can find illumination in those whom we find unlovable. This exercise of defining those we find unlovable is rather difficult and makes the commandment to love an ideal never to be reached. Fortunately, Jesus start’s us out with friendship.

Being a friend of Jesus is about following in the path he set out for us: Forgiveness, inclusion, mercy, and restoring relationships. When Jesus calls the disciples to be his friends, it is a call to follow in this way. To be faithful witnesses, to be friends to the world in the way Jesus has called us to be friends is not easy. That is why we must actually practice. When we gather into community it is an invitation to practice faithful friendship with one another. Doing this means that we will have to move away from the ways that seek to manipulate and control, in other words, away from the tools of guilt and fear. To become friends we are called to practice mercy, love and forgiveness so that when we leave here we will know what to do.

Real friendship, like love, is easier said than done. In fact, I read somewhere that practicing these skills of friendship is harder than mastering the history of Western Philosophy. But this is what we are to be about. Whenever we gather together, for worship, in committees, in our mission work, in all our relationships in this community our highest aim is practicing the ways of friendship. Our focus should be: Mercy, love, and forgiveness. And if we are honest, we will admit that these practices are always necessary whenever two or more people are gathered together. In other words, we will have plenty of opportunity to practice these skills whenever we gather together.

The simple truth is that the work of God’s church, Westminster Church, is about being friends with God and with one another. This is not to be taken overly simplistic. Practicing, mercy, loving one another and forgiving one another are the hardest and most important calling of the friends of Jesus. This is our calling as friends of Jesus, being friends, real friends with one another in this place and throughout our lives. This type of friendship is one which is never satisfied with just scratching the surface. It is a friendship which can support us no matter what we face in life.

As a community of faith we could build our number and grow on the tried and true ways of fear and guilt. Know, I know that we are not particularly practiced in the ways of fear. However, I do know that we Presbyterians can turn the ways of guilt into a fine art. But if we are truly honest, that is not the type of community for which we hunger. It is my hope that today we can repent and then refuse to play theses games and instead seek to follow Jesus. I would much rather be friend’s together, practicing the ways of mercy, inclusion, love and forgiveness. That is the community for which I hunger. What sort of community shall we seek to be? Let us seek to be friends of Jesus. Amen? Amen!