PIcked to be Fruitful, Part 3

Jesus says, “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.   You did not choose me but I chose you.” 

We have been chosen to be a friend of Jesus “Friend” is one of those words that has been overused and diluted in its meaning.   If you are a member of Facebook, then you know what I mean.  We “friend” people on Facebook so that we can write on their walls (never mind that writing on someone’s wall doesn’t seem very friendly to me).  My sons have so many Facebook friends that to count them would be like counting the grains of sand on the beach.   Working for the Foundation, I meet many people across the Annual Conference.  I’ve actually walked up to one or two people, and said, “I’m so glad to meet you; we’re friends on Facebook.”  And its not only on the internet that we experience that level of friendship -- at professional gatherings for our work, we network – making friends for the benefit they can provide to us.  I’m sure you can think of other examples.  Jesus has not chosen us to be his Facebook friend. 

There is another kind of friend – maybe better called an acquaintance.  If we run into this person on the street or in the grocery store, we might stop and “catch up.”  These people come and go in our lives, and we enjoy them, and we might even cultivate these kinds of friendships because they can be fun, but when these people leave our lives, we might not notice much of an emptiness.  When storms arrive in our lives, these probably aren’t the people we would call for help.  Jesus has not chosen us for this passing kind of friendship.

There is a different level of friend – a deeper level of friendship.  Aristotle called it the “best kind.”  We don’t have many friends like this kind of friend because of the deep investment required of our time and our emotions.  These kinds of friends share each others’ lives – these friends know us, in ways not many people do.  In this passage Jesus tells us that we are his friends because he has made known to us everything he knows from the Father.  He has shared life with us.  We have been chosen by Jesus to be this kind of friend.