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Lewis Memorial
08-08-10
“Faithful Friends”
Luke 5: 17-26
The week before last I was blessed to serve as the TIR (Theologian In Residents) at Camp Glisson. Camp Glisson is a wonderful Methodist Camp in Dahlonega, Ga. My role as chaplain for the week was to lead three different worship services every day (one in the morning and two at night) for about 300 third through eighth graders. It was amazing! The 80 year old chapel where we had these services is not air conditioned and when all of the campers were in there it was packed to capacity. Needless to say it was a very hot week, but God was amazing, as usual, and many children and youth grew closer to God that week. Many of those kids told me that they have met their best friends at camp and several of the young adult counselors told me the same about their friendships built there at Camp Glisson in the north Georgia Mountains.
As I was there I had some free time during the middle of the day so I worked on sermon prep for the remainder of this calendar year. One morning before chapel started I thought about our scripture reading this morning out of Luke. As the people were pouring into the chapel and every seat was filling up the image of Jesus speaking in a crowded house came to my mind. Now I did not and am not comparing myself and my preaching that day to Jesus, but I believe God allowed me a small glimpse of what it might have been like. I’m telling you, the chapel was packed with people and they could not get too many more in there. Like I said, this passage came to mind as I watched the place fill up with faithful friends.
Throughout that week I watched as strangers became friends and as friends from previous years reconnected and renewed old friendships. It got me thinking about my friendships through the years. I was 16 years old on a youth retreat at Camp Glisson when I accepted Jesus into my heart as my Savior so that camp is very special to me. We went there as a youth group many times and I can easily recall many of the friends from that time frame. Since then God has placed many new friends in my journey through life and I have been very blessed with the friendships that God has brought together and I am thankful.
Every time I read or hear about this scripture I wonder about friendships and I ask myself two questions. Do I have faithful friends like that? Am I a faithful friend like that? Unfortunately we do not know anything about these guys who carried their friend to see Jesus. Mark’s Gospel tells us that there were four of them and we know they had to carry him to the roof, remove some of the tiles, and then lower him down to where Jesus was teaching. We may not know their names and we may not know their size or what they did for a living or anything else about them, but we know they were faithful! Do you have friends like that? Are you a friend like that?
Houses back then were different than they are now and they had a small area built on the outside of their homes that allowed you to get to the roof. It was very narrow and it would have been almost impossible for 4 men to carry a body together to the roof. These 4 men put their lives in danger doing this! The love for their paralytic friend was more than just words as they showed him, the crowd, and Jesus just how much they loved him. Being a friend goes beyond just saying that you are a friend as your actions most of the time speak louder than your words. Jesus knew something about true friendships and I believe He was touched by these men and their faithfulness to their friend.
In Luke 5 we read that God had given Jesus the power to heal the sick and that is why these men brought their friend to see Jesus. The problem was they were not the only ones to hear about Jesus being there. The deeper you look at this passage the more you see that the people who were listening to Jesus were not other people wanting to be healed like the paralytic man. They were Pharisees and other religious leaders. They were experts of the Law of Moses and they had come from many different places to hear Jesus speak. So there might not have been anyone else there in need of being healed that day. Just this one man with the faithful friends!
Later in Jesus’ life He felt firsthand what it means to have friends suffer. Jesus had His disciples with Him for 2 or 3 years and we can safely assume that they all became friends during this time. But He also was very close to a family who loved Him and did many things for Him. Two sisters and their brother – Mary, Martha, and Lazarus – were dear friends; faithful friends of Jesus. If you read John 11: 17-44 you’ll see the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Many say that Lazarus may have been Jesus’ closest friend and they say this because of how Jesus responded when he saw Lazarus after his death. It is recorded in John 11:35 and it is known as the shortest verse in the Bible. Jesus saw the body of his faithful friend and all that scripture says is, “Jesus wept!” He loved his friend so much that his death brought tears to Jesus’ eyes. Jesus saw Mary and Martha and other family and friends crying and scripture tells us that He was terribly upset. Jesus had close, faithful friends as He walked this earth so when He sees the faithfulness of friends tearing open a roof and a man being lowered in front of Him for healing He was probably moved close to tears again.
All of us would be moved and very emotional to see men risk their own safety to help their friend. Jesus was and He healed the man with no hesitation.
What does it take to be faithful friends today? Well, since we look to the Bible for many answers let’s do the same for this question. Proverbs 17:17 says that a friend loves at all times. Of course we have Jesus as the perfect example of this and oh what a friend we have in Jesus! Proverbs also defines Jesus as a friend who sticks closer than a brother in 18:24. Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10 states that two are better than one…..If one falls down, his friend can help him up. This is not only speaking in a physical sense, but mentally and spiritually as well. Do you have friends who will help you in your time of need? Are you a friend who will help others in their time of need?
In John 15 Jesus is talking with His disciples and He is telling them that He is the vine and they are the branches and how important it is to bear good fruit. Then in verse 13 Jesus says that there is no greater love then a man laying down His life for His friends. He was speaking about Himself and how one day soon He would do just that for the entire world because He loves humankind. This one verse has caused humankind much distress through the years. Dying for a friend is the ultimate way to show your love for that friend, but are we willing to go that far for others? The four men who carried their friend to the top of a home and lowered him through that roof in hopes that Jesus would heal him put their lives in danger for their friend. That’s what Jesus was talking about. It takes an amazing amount of faith to love your friends that much. When Jesus saw how much faith these men had he said to the paralytic man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.” Later he told him to get up, pick up his mat and walk home. He did so rejoicing and praising God as did everyone else who saw him.
Being a friend of Jesus has its perks! Healing! Peace! Love! Joy! Salvation! Eternal life! Now THAT’S a friend!
Are you a faithful friend? Do you keep your promises to your friends? Do they know that they can count on you? Just remember what Jesus did for you and how He laid down His life for His friends. Let that encourage you to be a faithful friend to the ones you love.
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