"What Do You Say to Your Best Friend?"
One of the most important aspects of the Christian faith is the issue of friendship. Actually, it is bigger than that. Martin Buber once said he thought the most important part of life is relationship. He built a theology around that as he compared what it means to have I-Thou relationships and I-it relationships. Buber thought relationships should be looked at with the same sense of sacredness as one thinks about one's relationship with God.
The sermon will take consider Jesus' relationship with "the Beloved Disciple". The more I look into this subject the more I am convinced that the Gospel writers intentionally made the name of the "Beloved Disciple" obscure. Many could claim to be the Beloved one to him.
It leads us to a question of how we treat our friends (our beloved friends).
There are two things I have concluded:
1. A true friend is someone who knows the value of the moment. A friend is someone who will be there for us when we need them and they will come without prejudice or judgment.
2. A true friend is someone who does not tie us down with a leash but who works to help us find a link to other. A true friend does not smother but leads us to the other.
I know there are many other aspects of this issue of friendship. These are two important ones that we see evidence in Jesus' relationship with the Beloved Disciple.
What do you think?
Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.
Charles
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1 comment:
You wrote: Many could claim to be the Beloved one to him.
But the standard of truth on biblical issues is not what people "claim". Rather, it is what scripture actually says.
And, prior to Pentecost, the Bible names only one is an associate of Jesus who is scripture also explicitly identifed with the term "Jesus loved".
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