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.  Too often these wounds have been hard to distinguish and even harder to treat; and it remains clear that the price exacted from those who engage in conflict is higher and more profound than any statistic can ever record.  Clearly, conflicts that result in military aggression – no matter how we choose to describe it - are detrimental to the life of any human who finds themselves involved either as a member of the armed forces or as a civilian.

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 the positive outcome they seek.

In the military, we are trained in the use of weapons and tactics; but one of the most important things we learn is to look out for our fellow soldiers.   Our interdependence on one another is not only crucial to the fulfilment of whatever tasks we may be asked to fulfil but also to 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. We remember that everyone impacted by war or conflict of any kind make a choice. In so many cases 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.

From where does this willingness to sacrifice one’s safety, security and  even 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.

“This is my commandment,” Jesus tells the disciples, “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

To be counted as friends by Jesus, to be willing to listen to his words and do as Jesus commands is to be the focus of our lives. To love one another as he loves us. For the life that Jesus would lay down would not be just for these disciples but for all who would follow in faith and show themselves friends of the Lord.  And while we cannot ever make a sacrifice on the scale of that of Jesus, the expectation is that we never forget that the greatest love we can show is to be prepared to surrender this life.

The willingness to remain connected to the vine, the willingness to speak the truth that rules our lives, the willingness to act on that truth no matter what it may cost us, that is the price of friendship with the Lord.

May we ever remember those who believed in the words of Jesus and allowed their lives to be laid down for others.

AMEN