Be A Friend
Be a Friend: the Gospel for next Sunday
John 15:9-17 King James Version (KJV)
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another20
A memorable part of The Gospel according to John involves Jesus talking to his disciples during the supper before he was arrested, about agapē, which in English we translate “love.” With our orientation toward the word “love” we may at first not realize that agapē is not a feeling of liking someone, or of romantic attraction. Agapē Is how we treat other people, what we do for other people. Jesus has been agapēing his disciples by accepting them, by leading them, by teaching them, by being kind to them, by treating them like friends. Here he goes farther by actually making them his friends, in this gospel reading by calling them friends, telling them that from now on they are friends. Before this they were followers, students, even servants. Here Jesus agapēs them by changing his relationship with them. How did they react to this, how did they feel about it? John the storyteller doesn’t say. We may imagine that they were touched, very moved.
In the spring of 1984 I made an appointment, came down from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Mobile, Alabama, and met with the bishop to talk about the vacant pulpit at Trinity, Apalachicola. After we chatted a bit, the bishop introduced me to Sam Hardman. There was an immediate connection because we were both retired U. S. Navy officers. Father Sam took me to lunch and we talked a long time, in a warm, friendly conversation. Not until later did I realize that it had not been just a warm, friendly conversation, but an interview. Father Sam had been grilling me and learning all about me before recommending to the bishop whether he should send me to meet the search committee in Apalachicola and then allow me to transfer from the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania to the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast. Kind, warm, courteous, welcoming, Sam treated me like a friend even though I was not yet. We later actually became friends.
A couple of years after that, Father Sam talked with me about going to Cursillo and so opening Cursillo to everyone in the congregation at Trinity, Apalachicola (the rule was that nobody in the parish could go until the priest went first). He told me that the thing about Cursillo is the idea, “Be a friend, make a friend, bring a friend to Christ.” Father Sam, God rest his soul, was my life’s example of what Jesus means when he talks about agapē.
TomW+
Here’s The Message translation of Sunday’s gospel:
John 15:9-17 The Message (MSG)
9-10"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
11-15"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.
16"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17"But remember the root command: Love one another.