This is the eighth– and final– post in a multi-part series about friendship. You can read the first post here, the second post here, the third here, the fourth here, the fifth here, the sixth right here and the seventh here.
We’ve been talking about friendship. How my friendship with Robyn from high school mirrors the one between David and Jonathan in the Bible, and which is magnified in high definition when David meets Mephibosheth because then we see the kind of love God has for us. The kind of commitment David made to Mephibosheth is only possible because of the strength of the original relationship between David and Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan.
When I started this series, I had no idea I would have so much to say abut the topic- certainly not 8 posts worth. But thanks in part to the inspiration found here, I am off to a girls trip this weekend, and headed to visit dearly beloved Robyn next month. More girls weekend and intentional visits follow this summer. And I am thankful- first for my lifelong pals and second for the mindfulness to be grateful for them at all.
The point, finally…….
This is a world full of Mephibosheths. We are poor, lost, living in the enemy’s household, lame, broken by sin. We don’t even have the sense to hope that the King knows who we are, let alone remembers us and could ever be convinced not to kill us.
Remember in this story, this record of Mephibosheth and David, the king did the seeking. The same is true of us. None of us would be here if God hadn’t first acted on us by his grace.
And we come to him terrified, just like Mephibosheth came to David. We come to him broken. We come to him impoverished. We come to him with fear and guilt. We come as sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore. And we have only one defense. A covenant promise. A friendship.
And we are accepted- not because of our natural birth, not because of position, or prominence, or wealth, or achievement, but because of who God is. Because he picks us up and carries us when we are lame and cannot walk on our own. He did this in Jesus.
We have what we have, not because of ourselves, but because of the drama of the rescue from the eternal consequences of our sins. That is the message of the gospel- the good news of Jesus. That is Christianity. Out of the generosity of his heart, out of his covenant love towards us, God showers his resources upon us, shares his resources with us, and makes us his children.
Remember when I talked about how Robyn welcomed me as a friend when I had nothing to recommend me to her? Similarly, the faith we’ve given our hearts to is countercultural. It operates fundamentally differently than typical human culture operates.
Human culture can center on pride; on achievement or position. It can be about what we’ve earned and what we deserve. It often divides itself by race, culture, gender, economic and social class, each group thinking they’re better than the other, each group thinking they are right, each group proud of who they are and what they’ve achieved.
Human culture can be a lot like high school, sometimes.
Christianity is different than human culture because the fundamental message of Christianity is that none of us are deserving; none of us can stand on what we’ve accomplished; none of us is able to say: “I alone am right.” All of us fall short.
But Jesus says in chapter 15 of the book of John: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father is made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you.
May your friends draw you closer to God, and may your whole life be a story of deep friendship with God.
Amen.
* “All For Love” refers to one of the songs that instantly transports me back to high school. Nancy Wilson from Heart sings it as part of the soundtrack of the movie “Say Anything.” Join me in appreciating lace gloves and trenchcoats with shoulderpads here.
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