The Price of Friendship – John 15:1-17

I chose the passage from John 15 for this year’s Remembrance meditation because it highlights the importance of friendship in our lives, and it highlights the price that friendship can require of us.

I am sure that most of us have known people in our family or our circle of friends who have served in the military and who have been on active duty in war.  The price that they all paid – whether or not that price was their very life – exacted a toll on them physically, emotionally, psychologically, and even spiritually.  Often the wounds that these people suffered were hard to distinguish and even harder to treat.  Even though conflict and the use of weapons seems to be a common fact throughout human history, it remains clear that the price exacted from those who engage in conflict is often higher and more profound than any statistic can even imagine.  It also becomes clear that such conflict and the means needed to end such conflict are detrimental to the life of any human who finds themselves in such a situation.

It has always been the hope of every generation that war and the need to be prepared for war may one day disappear.  Yet it is clear that such a hope remains nothing more than a hope as leaders and nations who disagree about the paths being followed by others in the world make the decision that dialogue will not resolve the situation but that a physical battle must take place to ensure a positive outcome.

Military life is about training. We are trained in the use of weapons and tactics; but one of the most important lessons we learn is looking out for our fellow soldiers.   And while different people perform different functions with different skill sets, our interdependence on one another is crucial to the fulfilment of our tasks and the safety of one another.

That interdependence, that bond of camaraderie is what leads to what are often characterized as acts of heroism for which medals and commendations are given in recognition.  But what is it that lies at the heart of those acts? It is the willingness to sacrifice oneself for one’s friends. It is the firm belief that there is a bond that exists between a group of people that is so strong that they are willing to allow their life to be put in jeopardy in order to save the lives of others.

Of course, such heroism is not and never has been linked solely to military personnel. In any conflict, there have been many people who have risked their own life in order to save the lives of others who have faced threats, persecution and even death. Those people made a choice, and that choice was to stand up against what they saw as immoral and inhumane and strive to do whatever they could to overcome the harm they saw being done.

But from where does this willingness to sacrifice one’s safety and security and possibly life itself come? I believe that for many people in the world it comes from the faith that guides them. It comes from what they have been taught about being a friend to others. It comes from the example that had been set for them by one whom they respected.

For Christians, our example comes from Jesus. The interconnectedness that Jesus describes in the image of the vine and the branches highlights for us the deep sense that our very life and existence is intimately tied to that of Jesus. As the vine Jesus is the one who brings nourishment, strength, and life to the branches. But while he does his best to encourage growth, it is the Father who watches over the vine ensuring that only those branches that are receptive to the nourishment that the vine offers remain part of the vine.

When we follow the words of Jesus and allow his teaching to guide and direct our lives, we are taking in the nourishment that those words bring to our minds, our spirits, and our bodies. And that following, that willingness to be taught and directed only becomes real as we are willing to love Jesus and receive the love of God as revealed to us by Jesus.  Such a willingness on our part, such a desire to love as we are loved by God will bring joy to Jesus and allow us to feel the joy he feels knowing that we are willing to embrace the path that will enable us to learn and live what it truly means to be human in God’s design.

It is at this point that Jesus speaks the words that have echoed throughout the ages and have been the inspiration to many in their own lives. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:12-14

Jesus will ever remain the Master, the Lord; but the relationship that Jesus desires to have with the disciples has moved beyond that of Master and student. He has made them privy to all that will happen. They now share with him – as far as they are able – the burden that has been laid on him. And that burden will be his own sacrifice of his body, his life for them and for all in the world.

It is the desire of God made clear by John in chapter 3 that the love of God for all in the world led to the giving of the Son – Jesus – to be the Lamb that would be sacrificed that all may have life not only for this time but for eternity. It is the desire of God that all come to be friends with God through Jesus.  It is the desire of God that all come to be adopted into the family of God and that we love one another as brothers and sisters, as friends with a common bond and a common hope and a common vision.

And it is as the friends of Jesus that the sacrifice of Jesus makes sense. The effectiveness of that sacrifice is made real in the life of every believer for it is only when the disciples saw themselves as friends of Jesus that they could appreciate and give thanks for the sacrifice that Jesus would make.

The example of Jesus has been the inspiration for many throughout time. And while those sacrifices could never be on the level of the sacrifice of Jesus, those sacrifices would be remembered as signs of the love and commitment of people who believed in their hearts and their souls that to show oneself a friend even to those who were strangers would make a difference.

AMEN