“I do not call you servants but friends” (Jn 15).

Former UCLA football coach Pepper Rodgers had a disastrous season. He said: “I had only one friend – my dog. Even my wife was mad at me, and I told her that a man ought to have at least two friends. She agreed and bought me another dog.” 

It’s not a bad thing to be known as a servant of God. Moses was a servant of God, as was Joshua. It was a title that St. Paul counted as an honor. Many great people in the past have been proud to be called “servants of God.” Yet Jesus says; “I have something greater for you yet; you are no longer servants, but you are friends.” Jesus offers us a wonderful intimacy, to be a friend.

Jesus called us to be his friends and the friends of God. It means that no longer do we need to gaze longingly at God from afar off. We are not like slaves who have no right to enter into the presence of the master; we are not like a crowd whose only glimpse of a head of state is the passing on some state occasion, that if we got too close, we might be arrested. Jesus did the amazing thing. He gave us this intimacy with God, so that God is no longer a distant stranger, but our intimate friend.

Friendship is a beautiful thing. The friendship of God is an infinitely beautiful thing. God has gone to a terrific amount of trouble in order to give himself to us in friendship. In our minds we can make God out to be anything we fancy. We can let our emotions, fears, guilt, and anxieties shape our attitudes toward him. But eventually we are going to have to face up to the reality of what He says about himself and how he has chosen to relate to us. “I no longer call you slaves. I call you friends.” Some questions now face us. How do I regard friendship? How do I treat the friends who are in my life? Do I allow God to be my friend with all the acceptance, respect and honesty that’s involved in being a true friend?

A poet has written about God. “Looking for God is like looking for the air when all the time we are breathing. It is like looking for the sun when all the time we are basking in it. Once we have truly come to recognize God as love, we do not call for him and agonize over an answer. We see him everywhere. We see him looking at us from the eyes of mothers and sweethearts, wives and children, neighbors and friends, strangers too, and even enemies. We feel his presence in every touch of a friendly hand. We hear his voice in every kindly word. When we know that God is love, we find him in every loving thought, word, and deed, and we are one with him. When we know that God is love, we are never alone.”

What a friend!

• Thought for the week: “What concerns me is not the way things are, but the way people think things are” (Epictetus).
• Smile for the week: Teacher: “Which is more important to us – the moon or the sun?” Student: “The moon.” Teacher: “Why?” Student: “The moon gives us light when we need it; the sun gives light only in the daytime when we don’t need it.”

God bless! Have a wonderful week!