John 15:9-17 The Resurrected Power of Christ Continues: Through Abiding Friendship with Jesus May 5 th /6 th, 2018 Grace and peace to you all from God our Father and Jesus our risen Lord. Amen. Before I touch on the title of this sermon and look at John 15 and the abiding friendship we have with Jesus, I want to first speak about how friendship was viewed in the ancient world, particularly by the Greeks and Romans since the Gospel penetrated the those worldviews first. You might notice some similarities today in how we view friendship because we have been profoundly influenced by Greek thought. First, let s look at the Greek philosopher Aristotle (lived in the 300 s BC). He summarizes how the Greeks thought about friendship: The perfect form of friendship is that between the good, and those who resemble each other in virtue. For these friends wish each alike the other's good in respect of their goodness, and they are good in themselves; but it is those who wish the good of their friends for their friends' sake who are friends in the fullest sense, since they love each other for themselves and not accidentally. 1 In other words, for Aristotle the perfect form of friendship is basically like likes like. Those who are alike in status, in virtue, in power, in influence, in worldview, and so on, will like each other, be friends, and want the best for one another. Packer fans like Packer fans. Wealthy people are drawn to wealthy people. Mill workers are drawn to other mill workers, and so on. Like likes like characterizes how most people still view friendship. Second, we quickly look at the Romans, the dominating force in Jesus day. The Romans often viewed friendship in terms of utility, a What can you do for me and what can I do for you kind of a thing, a you scratch my back and I ll scratch yours kind of a thing. This line of thinking led the Romans to be people who basically used other people. You would be of no good, you would not be a good friend, if you couldn t do anything for me. As we look at John 15 and Jesus speaking of abiding friendship with him, I hope you can see how Jesus complete shatters both of those ways of thinking. The friendship Jesus is speaking about is not friendship between equals, between like liking like. 1 Nicomachean Ethics: Book 8 1
The friendship Jesus is speaking about is not friendship of utility; Jesus isn t about using people. So let me show you how Jesus shatters those expectations on friendship and shows you what Christian friendship looks like, to show you how his resurrected power comes to you through abiding friendship with Him. Not Friendship between Equals The friendship Jesus provides is not friendship between equals, it is not like likes like. How is that? For starters, to point out the obvious, Jesus is God, you are not. There is nothing you have or you are that can put you on equal footing with the Lord God almighty. God cannot be impressed by you. God will not be impressed by who you are or what you can do. He is not impressed with your wealth nor does he look down on you because of your lack of it. He is not impressed with how smart you are or nor does he look down on you because of how little you might know. He is not impressed with your ethnicity, if you re French or Swedish or Croatian or Native American or Black or Hispanic or any other ethnicity. Genetics, home of origin, and family heritage cannot save you. Saint Paul put it this way in Romans 2:11 God shows no partiality. Saint Peter said the exact same thing in Acts 10:34, just moments before the Holy Spirit is poured out on the Gentiles God shows no partiality... So how can we be friends with the Lord if we cannot be equal, if we cannot be like him? People of God, this is great scandal of the Gospel. An infinite, holy God calls you, who have true faith in Jesus, friends. You who have nothing God needs can be befriended by the Lord of the universe who has everything. In this case, it s not like likes like it is Someone totally unlike you, Someone totally different, totally unequal, totally Other, totally and wholly good Who wants you who are so unequal and undeserving in comparison to the Lord, so not good compared 2
to the Lord, to nevertheless abide in His love, to abide in his word, to abide in His gracious presence, and to abide in a gift divine friendship forever. God knows you have nothing He needs, but He still wants you. All of you. Jesus said to the disciples, and I say to you now, You did not choose me, but I chose you. God chooses you. Right here, right now. Why? To be his friend, to be in an abiding relationship of friendship made possible by the resurrected power of Christ. Resurrected power made possible because of, as Jesus himself said, because of His greater love given and shown when he laid down His life for you. Apart from Christ we are enemies of God. But connected to Christ because of his resurrected power, you abide in his love, in his Word, and his divine friendship is yours forever. He picks you as friend; you don t pick him. This leads us to our second point: Not Friendship of Utility Abiding friendship with Christ is not about him using you or you trying to use Him. I never really hear people talk about how they think the Lord is only using them. But I have no doubt that some people do get this idea in their heads that God is only any good to them if He does what I want, when I want it, and how I want it. You might hear someone say something like this: I m not going to worship anymore because what has God done for me lately? I hate my job, my co-workers drive me nuts, the doctors say I m unhealthy, I m constantly in financial struggles, etc...if God really did care about me then none of this would be going on! People of God, I hope and pray you saying nothing like that. Words like these don t speak of the Lord as your friend; this kind of thinking views Jesus as our own personal butler or bellhop. Imagine saying to your mother or father or even to your own children and maybe some of you have, and if so may God forgive you I ll only love you, care about you, do things for you if you do X, Y, and Z for me. Scratch my back; I ll scratch yours. That isn t friendship. That isn t love. That s only having 3
your own best interests in mind. And if all you have is your own best interests in mind, this is what we often call being selfish. And that s probably the reason why you don t like your job, or your co-workers, or your doctors, or your current state of health, or you have current financial struggles, and so on because all you ve ever cared about is you yourself! One of the things we often forget in the American church and American society, a society really based on selfishness and utility a what you can do for me and what I can do for you as long as it s good for me is that God owes us absolutely nothing. Let me say that again: The Lord God almighty owes you nothing. God is never indebted to you, even if you ve faithfully gone to church for 50 years. The Lord is under no obligation to bless anyone. Why? Because we re sinners. And because we re sinners, even the good things we do or the things we do we think are good we do are riddled and infected with sin. And if we don t recognize that straight away, we will never truly apprehend what friendship with God means. But, and here s the big but, once you do recognize that, you will come to find the abiding friendship we can have with Jesus is all the more remarkable. The friendship Jesus offers is so beautiful and amazing and here s why: We deserve nothing but to be God s enemies, yet, as Saint Paul puts it in Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We deserve nothing and aren t owed anythign yet God gives us everything through the resurrected power of his Son. Again, St. Paul from Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? All things not some things are yours people of God, all things are yours provided you are with him, with Jesus, provided that you abide and Christ and he abides in you; provided that you abide in his word that cleanses you; provided that 4
you abide deeply in his love, in his friendship. Jesus says to all you, his friends purchased from slavery of sin to live in the joy of freedom in Christ, Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Jesus says to you, his friends which he laid his life down for: I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep (John 10:14-15). Jesus says to you, his friends, who he willingly bled and died for, this: the Son of Man [must] be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:15) And because you are friends with Jesus, because you can be friends with Jesus, because the resurrected power of Christ continues through an abiding friendship with Jesus, this is why as Jesus himself says, your joy may be full, your joy may be complete. Jesus will not use you as other people might. Jesus will not take advantage of you because of his power. Even though you will never be equal with Christ, or like Christ, he will make you perfect. He will make you perfect and he will make you holy, because He wants to turn you into an image of himself, a reflection of himself. And because he laid his life down for yours, because he is your friend through faith, know that with Christ as Lord, Savior, and Friend, what more could you ever possibly need? Jesus will always be enough. Amen. HoD: ELW #742 What a Friend we have in Jesus 5