As I was standing in front the congregation going through one of my forty points on Sunday morning, I noticed that people started to get up out of their seats. I was thinking that maybe somebody spiked the coffee and a mad rush to the bathroom was taking place. Then I turned around and looked at one of the screens. I saw my baby picture and figured out what was going on. As the people sang happy birthday, prayed for me, and brought cards to the front, I was so grateful to be surrounded by friends. Some of the friends know me very well. Others don’t really know me, with the exception of listening to me on Sunday mornings for 30 minutes. All are friends nonetheless.
I’m thankful for so many friends who accept me for who I am and who I am not. For people who choose to be part of my life just because they feel like it. Many are older. Many are younger. Some are richer. Some are poorer. Some are men. Some are women. But in the grand scheme of things, none of that stuff really matters as far as friendship goes. Only the person matters.
I’m thankful for you as a person—your loving work, your loving deeds, and your enduring hope. You have embodied grace to Amber, Benjamin, David, and myself. Undeserved favor is probably the best way to think of grace. We don’t deserve your loving kindness on our behalf. We don’t deserve your belief that we can be better tomorrow than we were today. But through your loving work, your loving deeds, and your enduring hope – you have given us a glimpse of the face of God and a hint of the Kingdom of Heaven. And for that I am thankful.
Jesus knew a thing or two about friendship. He says: This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends. –John 15:12-15
It seems like a high price to pay. Loving each other unconditionally, providing for each other not as we would like to provide but as the other person would like, and basically giving our lives. Jesus never even remotely implied that such a relationship would even be easy, but he makes it crystal clear that friendship is worth all our efforts and then some. Thanks for your friendship—it means more to me than you could ever know.
It seems like a high price to pay. Loving each other unconditionally, providing for each other not as we would like to provide but as the other person would like, and basically giving our lives. Jesus never even remotely implied that such a relationship would even be easy, but he makes it crystal clear that friendship is worth all our efforts and then some. Thanks for your friendship—it means more to me than you could ever know.
In Christ,
Craig
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