John 15:13-17
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”
As I get older—probably by virtue of the fact that I have lived longer and continue to meet new people—I have a beautiful bounty of friends, some new, some cherished for years, some local and others long-distance friends. My dearest friend has been a long-distance friend for over 35 years. For many of those years we managed only once-a-year visits with long talks on the phone every month or so, but our limited times have always been purposeful, meaningful and a worthwhile investment.
My guess is that most would agree that having devoted, loyal friends is a pretty important part of life. But, do we sometimes look upon the time we spend with a friend as a luxury, a reward after getting everything else done, as a lovely extravagance to fill idle hours and enhance our enjoyment? In days when we run from the urgent to the imperative, using e-mails, Zoom, texts, messenger, instagram, Amazon, microwaves, and remote controls, many of us find we don’t get around to this “luxury” often enough, though we intend to. However, there is no way Amazon can mail you a friend! Many of us will never invest the time or take the risk of building lasting friendships until we are convinced they are an essential, not an extra.
Jesus’ years of ministry on earth leaves little doubt that loving others and investing time and energy in their lives was His number one priority—more important than earning an income, owning a home, or living to retirement age with a healthy nest egg! He chose twelve common men and loved them so effectively that He transformed them from sinners to saints, from enemies to friends of God. Together they fished, ate, walked, talked, worked, celebrated, slept, taught, traveled, rejoiced, cried, prayed, and grew. Jesus made friends with the lovely and the unlovely, loved and unloved, the poor, wealthy, sick, healthy, the religious, and influential. His love for others was and still is redemptive, healing, and life-changing.
In Him, our love for one another can be the same. To do that, we must be committed to building bridges of love and friendship as He was committed to building His bridge of love to us. In the coming days I’ll be sharing ways we can extend this love—this bridge-building love—with friends the way Jesus has done for us.
Dear Father, thank You for sending Jesus, our greatest friend, to be the bridge to life, love, and friendship. May we be reminded each day that He gave us the model for true, faithful, lasting friendships. Help us to be the kind of friend that puts others’ needs above our own. In the name of Jesus, our best friend. Amen.
~ painting by Judith Stein
