The Lord Be With You
And Also With You
Let Us Pray…
Loving God, we thank you for this opportunity to slow ourselves down and come into your house to worship you this day. We thank you for your Son Lord Jesus Christ through whom we are no longer servants but friends. We ask that your Spirit would fall down upon us gathered here this morning. May we hear the word you have for us this day so that we may share your love and friendship with those around us. Speak Lord. . . your friends are listening. Amen.
When we think of the word master…we think of someone who has complete control of a slave. They own the slave. Slaves really aren’t much better than an animal. They have no rights, dignity or freedom. We can see this master/slave relationship all the way back in ancient times…in Israel’s, the Greek and Roman civilization. It even exists today in the world we live in.
Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves long ago but…we actually can still think in this way. Some are masters while others are slaves. Even in the schools today, although humorously, teachers are seen as the master while the students see themselves as the slave to this master (who gives way too much homework and never gives them a break). They are slaves to their teaching task masters. As a matter of fact…this way of thinking has even infiltrated the church. Some view pastors as slaves and the congregation as masters. And sometimes it’s the other way around. Either way, there is a problem with this way of thinking.
But…hear what John 15:11-15 tells us about this relationship. It reads (and I’m reading from the Message paraphrase bible):
“I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.”
In this passage, Jesus is doing a new thing. . . He has defined a new relationship. We are no longer servants but friends.
We are told to love one another, but. . . we are also told that we are His friends and that we are to be friends with each other as well. You see...the servant doesn’t know anything that the master is doing, they are totally clueless; but Jesus is now calling us friends, raising our status. What he tells us…fills us in on the grand scheme of things. What an awesome savoir we have. . . letting us know, in part, what God wants us to do. We are to be friends with each other and those who are outside the walls of our church.
I want you to close your eyes and picture this with me (I won’t have you close your eyes too long…I wouldn’t want anyone to fall asleep on me this morning). . . I want you to picture in your mind’s eye the face of a friend…
• This person is someone you know well and they know you
• Someone who is there for you
• Someone you can talk to and values you
• Someone you want to spend time with because they are someone you love, respect, trust and they tell you the truth.
Now open your eyes. . . I have something to tell you…You have a new friend in Jesus. He is your friend and you are His. . . Not only is Jesus your friend but you have many other friends. Their sitting right next to you…I want you to look at the person next to you…the people around you…and say “Hi Friend”. . . that’s right. . . everyone in this church is yours and my friend. Isn’t that just totally awesome. . . I never knew I had so many friends.
This is what the scripture is saying to us…We are called to love one another and to be friends with one another. But it doesn’t stop there. . . we are also called to do this…to be friends, so that God’s friendship can be shown to the world. WE are free, because of this relationship, to love each other as Christ loves us. WE are free to work with each other bringing Christ’s love, our friendship with Christ, to those beyond the walls of Suncook United Methodist Church. And I have seen this in action. I have seen how this church treats those around the community with love as we open our doors to those who would not have a place to meet if we had not befriended them. . . to those who would not have something to eat if we had not befriended them and opened our doors with “Our Family’s Table”. . . to those in need who go to the food pantry if we had not befriended this important service in our community. . . the list goes on.
We are no longer servants but friends. “We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” of friends, not masters and slaves, we are equal. We are connected, knit together, in Jesus Christ. Since we are now called friends it is by the Holy Spirit that we are taught and strengthened to be friends with one another and to love others as ourselves. We know about the feelings of the love that connects us to family and special friends. What does it mean to respond to God’s human family in ways to bear witness to God’s love for us? Well…life is the way we spend our time, use our resources, measure our words, do our work and tend to our relationships. Like branches of a vine, our lives intimately intertwine with Christ and with each other. Love is not just a feeling. . . it’s a way of life. We need to live out that life of love with those around us, befriending the friendless and leading to the ultimate friendship they can receive in Christ.
As we go through this week. . . let us remember that we are connected to each other and Jesus in love as friends. . . that together, in Christ, we go out in ministry, sharing the love and friendship of Christ to those beyond our walls. Beloved…we are God’s people and are given a commandment to proclaim God’s love and wonderful actions to the world. To share the mercy we have received through Christ Jesus who tells us that we are no longer servants but friends…No longer master and servant. Let us be ambassadors of God’s grace, love and mercy to the world around us. That’s what friends are for. . . go out and make a new friend today in Jesus’ name.
AMEN.
Psalm 98:4-8 (Call to
Worship)
1 John 5:1-5
John 15:11-15
John 15:1-8,
John 15:9-17
John 15:1-17
Message for Children
by Reverend Huntley
Halvorson,
sermon, “Friends”,
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
sermon
blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
and final hymn, “What a
Friend We Have in Jesus”,
United Methodist Hymnal
#526
(Sanctifying Grace and
Perfecting Grace section),
Suncook United Methodist
Church
Suncook, NH
May 17, 2009
All of my
poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. All rights
reserved. Contact me at Ray
Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com)
for usage. See all 40,090+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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