Dear friends, have you ever wished you were friends with a famous person?  For some reason I've had several dreams in which I was a personal friend of two actors, Harrison Ford and Charlton Heston, though I doubt those two are even on speaking terms.  I don't know why those two, but one can't control one's dreams.  I'm just glad the dreams didn't include the women from "Baywatch."

          Two weeks ago Carol and I attended a pastor's conference and we volunteered to bring along the conference speaker, Dr. Paul Maier, author of 17 books (Pontius Pilate, Flames of Rome, etc.), famous Bible professor, and even TV personality when there's a TV story on the Bible or early church.  His best-seller, A Skeleton in God's Closet, will soon be made into a movie.  A pastor friend asked why Dr. Maier referred to us as his friends.  "How did you know him?"  I told him it just happened.  People like to be associated with famous people.  It bolsters our self-image and gives us status.  It's an honor to have a friend, especially if that person happens to be famous.

          And yet we're all friends with the most famous person in all of history.  Though Christ is the Son of God, and though we've not met Him face-to-face, we're His friends.  That gives us personal contact with Him, and it makes Him approachable, loyal, and even fun to be with.  "What a Friend we have in Jesus!" we sing.  Yes, what a friend indeed, the best we'll ever have!

          Because of this I've called today, Holy Friendship Sunday.  But what is a friend?  A definition is not easy.  We know who a friend is more easily than we know what a friend is.  A friend is one "attached to another by affection or esteem."  We use the word to cover so many meanings and people.  We use it for someone we've just met, and someone we've known a lifetime.  Though I addressed you all today as "Dear friends," some here are more dear than others.  My wife and son are more dear than those I've known only a few months.  My best friend Lowell is dear to me, but he'll never be the friend my Carol is.  A friend is one who knows all about you and still loves you.  I haven't seen Lowell in years, but just a few minutes on the phone picks us up where we left off.  The Aussies use a great term - "mate" - because a good friend is one you're connected to, almost like you're slightly married, or made of the same material.

          This Memorial Day weekend we may visit friends, share a picnic or perhaps make new friends.  Some of us will take time to recall old friends no longer alive, friends from our Army or Navy days.  Lasting friendships are often made in the military, as my old friend Roy, an airplane mechanic in WWII once said, "Share the same tent for 3 1/2 years in the jungles of New Guinea and you'd better be friends!"  Roy used to attend the annual reunion of the Jolly Roger division of Army Air Corps, but now he and most of the Jolly Rogers rest in cemeteries.  Hopefully they and other heroes of past wars will be remembered this Memorial Day weekend.

          Do you have a good friend?  Do you need a good friend?  Are you a good friend?  No one is useless if you're a friend to others.  Friends are precious; we value them highly.  Friendship is a gift you give.  It's extending yourself and your love to another person.  Poet John Donne wrote, "No man is an island."  We know what he meant, but we also know our sinfulness can make every one of us an island.  Sin separates us.  It takes time to build a friendship, but it can be destroyed in a few thoughtless words or gestures.  Sin separates us from people and especially separates us from God.  The silly things we do to each other can make us lonely, miserable people.  Being a friend means we need to forgive others, as well as ask their forgiveness.  Being separated from God means we need His holy forgiveness, because our sins disconnect us from Him.

          But in Jesus Christ God re-connects us.  Through His forgiveness we can have bridges that go between us and safe harbors to calm us.  Those bridges need to be tended, not washed out by senseless pride and stubbornness.  A friendship can be a safe harbor in the midst of the storms of life.  Bridges and harbors - good terms to describe friendship.

          Our friends are usually ordinary people with ordinary abilities, people we love and who love us.  We all need to be loved.  A hug or a handshake or a special smile goes a long ways in building the bridges we need.  Our best gifts to each other are love and time - such valuable treasures!

          But how do you know who your friends are?  One way is to make a mistake, and see who comes to help.  If you want to know who your real friends are, spill a cup of coffee in a crowd.  You'll find out fast!  Friends come to your aid, putting all else aside in your time of need.

          A friend's love can also be shown in the harsh but necessary word.  A friend tells you the truth and stands by you through the good and bad times.  Years ago in the accident my friend Lowell dropped everything and drove 900 miles to be with me, getting there even before my family.  That's friendship!  You know they need you, so you drop everything and go to them.

          We all have a greater friend, a special friend, a holy friend, One who has chosen us to be His friends.  It may seem strange to call the Son of God our friend, but ours is a personal God.  He wants to be with us.  He wants to share our lives.  He's personally interested in each of us.  He's King of kings and Lord of lords, but He's also our Best Friend.  That's what He meant when He said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his 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..." (John 15:13-15)

          Remember, that's Jesus talking.  He doesn't want us as His servants only.  Two things stand out in this text:  (1) He chooses us to be His friends, and (2) His friends love each other.

(1)     He chooses us to be His friends.  Sometimes friendships just happen - we meet someone and everything clicks.  At other times we deliberately choose them.  Christians often think we've chosen Jesus, but it's not true - He chose us first!  He helped create us through our parents, so if He didn't want us, we wouldn't be here.  But now that we are here and know what He did for us, we can choose Him.  And He even helps us do that!  His partner in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, continually works to convince us Jesus is God's Son.  Through Word and Sacrament the Spirit urges us to believe He shed His blood for our salvation.  "Trust in Him and you're adopted into God's family!" urges the Spirit.  And He also works to convince us Jesus is our Holy Friend.

(2)     His friends love each other.  Love moves people to act, to do what needs to be done.  Our Best Friend said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down His life for His friends."  Love is the basis for all friendships, especially His with us.  "We love Him because He first loved us."

          And He does love us.  He gave His life on Calvary's cross so we can love Him and each other.  Sad to say, we don't do a very good job of loving each other in the Church.  More than once, people have told me they've been treated better by their secular co-workers than by people in the church.  We can't say we love God and then be cruel or spiteful to our brothers and sisters.  Christ's friends love each other.  It's as simple as that!

          Our friendships here at Epiphany may be tried during the coming months.  As we found out, in July we'll be moving from here.  We've been so greatly blessed by free use of this lovely place;  Drinkwine Chapel is partly why we've grown.  But a church is made of people, not bricks and boards.  Jesus builds His church with people who come together to form a living body.  Land and buildings are good, and God will provide us that.  We must just trust Him.  But Church is the people!

          Some of us may have to drive farther, and coming to church may get harder.  But now's the time to test our commitment to Epiphany.  Now's the time to try out our faith.  Faith is reliance on God for His solutions.  We must use our skills to search and find the best location, but in the end He will provide it.  Epiphany was born with a silver spoon in its mouth.  Now we will find out if it's mature enough to dine on God's food at a less desirable table.

          The news jarred me at first, but now I'm excited about our future.  I want to see if we have faith and test what we've become.  It's no good to eat off a silver platter;  it's time to become a servant.  As a church we've become a little soft.  It's no good always to sit in the padded pews of luxury;  it's time to be hardened by some work.  It's time to show our friendship by speech and action.  In other words, it's time to be a good friend to Jesus, who's been the best friend we've ever had.

          "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.  What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer."  What verse could you add?  What a friend we are to Jesus?  What a friend we've found for Jesus?  What a friend we are to others?  May God give us good friends, and may we all rejoice that our Best Friend is there for us when we need Him.  Amen!

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.