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In a world that is getting ever smaller, the concept of friendship takes on meaning of ever increasing importance. There are more people living on our planet than at anytime in history. Nations like China, India and Iran are emerging rapidly as both military and economic powers. These emerging nations are going to compete for resources and jobs in the world market. We see how U.S. companies have expanded and outsourced jobs to other parts of the world. We are aware that with improved travel and communication we can by anywhere on the globe in a matter of hours or have reports of events within seconds of their happening. We are becoming increasingly aware of how our privacy is being invaded and diminished. Our children will be in school with others of different races, faiths and cultures. In light of all of this and much more, if we are going to survive and move forward as a world community, it will become increasingly necessary that we get along with each other. In other words, we need to become friends and move beyond being enemies.
Of course this is not a new need or concept, but today it has larger magnitude than ever before. When the newly formed Christian community was emerging it faced a similar need albeit on a much smaller scale. Jewish people from birth were taught that non-Jewish people were to be avoided. Unfortunately, this is something not isolated to Jewish people alone. In our own country there have been times including now when whites saw themselves superior to people of color. Protestants and Catholics had inappropriate stereotypes of one another. Native Americans are often considered to be lazy drunks. Various ethnic groups that came to the "melting pot" were given derogatory names. Others were used as slave labor with few, if any, rights. At this moment in our history we, as a nation, are struggling with what to do with millions of undocumented people; and the situation is reaching a near boiling point of exploding.
The issues and their solutions are complex and will not be solved without hard work and sacrifice. In Acts 10, we have a story of how a Gentile named Cornelius was used by God to help break down racial, religious and cultural barriers. He invited Peter, the leading spokesperson for the Jesus movement, to come to his home. Peter, at the same time, had a vision about how he was to abandon long-standing Jewish practice in order to become friends with Gentile men and women. When it became clear that God had given the same Holy Spirit to all of them they were able to become friends.
On the one hand this sounds all too easy. People who have felt a certain way all of their lives do not usually suddenly change. It often takes decades of attempts and lots of education to replace years of prejudice and fear. However, if our world is to have any real future we need to be doing all we can to break through ignorance, hatred, prejudice and fear. While we believe in one God who is the creator of all, we need to accept that this same God may be known by many names and approached in various ways. The one basic and unifying concept is that we are to love one another. We simply cannot allow radical fringe groups of every religion including our own to spread the poison that only a select group is right and are the chosen ones of God. God chooses all people and calls those who claim to love God to also love one another. God's people, all of them, are called to friendship. P.T. Forsyth once said, "You must live with people to know their problems, and live with God in order to solve them" (Sermon Writer Web site; 05/21/06). From the same source G.K. Chesterton is quoted as saying, "The Bible tells us to love our neighbors and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people." C.S. Lewis suggests that we can learn to love by acting as if we do love. He says: "As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you love someone, you will presently come to love him."
In recent weeks, some of us have been called "thugs" and a few have been called "immoral slime." Edwin Markham understands how Jesus expects us to respond. He says: "He drew a circle that shut me out — heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in" (Sermon Writer Web site; 05/21/06).
Jesus commands us to draw circles that take people in, not ones that keep people out. Jesus did this with His disciples. He called total strangers. At first they were His students and servants. In a period of a few years, Jesus attempted to teach them all the wisdom He had. Knowing that the Holy Spirit would eventually help them understand and follow that Truth Jesus told them before He died they were no longer servants and students but were now His friends. As His friends they would love others as He loved them. As His friends they would follow His teachings. As His friends they would pass His teachings to others and invite them to receive forgiveness and eternal life through God's Holy Spirit dwelling in them.
A friend is someone with whom you share life. Jesus told His disciples, "I call you friends because I have told you everything I have heard from the Father." As friends we are called to do that a well. We are to tell others the Good News. They have been forgiven by God and have been offered eternal life. They need to confess their need and be made over again by the love of God working through the Holy Spirit. They are to be people of prayer and they are to be part of the fellowship of believers. All who follow Jesus are to bear fruit which means they are to take on characteristics of Jesus as well as becoming friends with others.
We know this is possible. Consider people like Gandhi; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Nelson Mandela; Desmond Tutu; Billy Graham and many others. Mother Teresa, who is also included in the aforementioned group once said, "People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway" (Homiletics, May 2006, p. 29).
Jesus tells us we need to be friends. Others may react to this in all kinds of ill-manner. Be friends anyway. God commands it; our world needs it. The measure of a person's greatness is not in how much they possess or in the positions they hold but in how many friendships they enjoy.
The survival of the world we live in depends upon our willingness and ability to develop true and lasting friendships.
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