Idk, my bff Jesus?

This week’s study will really be a testament to the fact that this is God doing the talking, not me. The reason for this is that my heart is not much in it this week, and my mind is wandering somewhere through a field of daisies and Monty Python youtube videos. Praise God for His strength in my weakness!!!!

As I said last week, we shall be talking about our relationship with God. This week, let’s consider God’s position as our friend.

Now the first obstacle we need to overcome before we study any of God’s roles is the idea that God is just some cosmic being watching us from a galaxy far, far away. *Star Wars theme begins to play* Ha, just kidding. Anyway, it is true that God is cosmic. He is infinite, and huge, and omniscient/omnipotent/omnipresent, etc… we’ll deal with those things in a few weeks. The point I would like to convey is that He is also very personal.

Let’s backtrack a moment. Think over your list of friends. What do they do to make you consider them your friends? Do you hang out? Rejoice together over the good things and cry through the sorrow? Share secrets? Swap stories? Listen to music and just laugh the whole night away? Maybe a better question is, what is it about who your friends are that makes them your friends? Are they caring? Fun? Accepting? Do they have the ability to love you as you are? That’s what a friend means to me… you can fill in your own blank, but apart from a few differing interests in activity, I’m guessing your idea isn’t too far off of mine.

Upon initial inspection of this list, it seems rather impossible that Jesus could be a friend to us. It’s not like we can actually see or touch Him, so how can He do all those things that a friend does? But let’s think about it a minute.

When something amazing happens to you, who do you want to tell? Your friends, of course! You go to them, just knowing they’ll be as thrilled as you are by the news, because that’s just what friends do. What’s stopping us from telling Jesus what happened? Who cares if He already knows, He likes hearing it from you as much as your friends do. And He will rejoice with you just as much or more than your bestie in math class. Same goes for the other side of the coin. We all have those days when we just need a hug. Of course your buds are going to be there with a pat on the back, and maybe some cookie dough. What makes us think that Jesus won’t react the same way? I mean, He may not send Gabriel down bearing a heavenly bowl of cookie dough (although that would be AWESOME… And no calories!), but He’s still going to comfort you. He hates to see you hurt, even when you brought it upon yourself.

I have several times encountered this sense of peace and comfort. I remember one time I was at a birthday party at a friend’s house. During the course of conversation, I found out something that broke my heart: a friend of mine (who wasn’t present at the time) was cutting again. I couldn’t even be in anyone’s company, and my friends (being wonderful as they are) understood that. I went downstairs to be by myself for a while and sobbed. I was staggering under the weight of my feelings and questions… how could this happen again? What if she cut too deep and killed herself? Why didn’t I see this coming? How could she hide this from me? If I had done more last time, would she be safe now? After some time I gave up pointless questions that had no answers and cried out to God. There were no specific words that I can remember. It was less of a request and more of a deep yearning. Almost immediately I felt this uncanny sense of calm. I stopped crying, and sat up. It was the most real, tangible expression of God’s love I had felt up to that point. Somehow I knew that it was going to be all right, that God was holding onto her, that it wasn’t my fault… the peace just washed over me in wave after wave of comfort. It was rather like a God-hug.

So we know that God can share in our moments of triumph and of pain. But what about all those in between times, all that time we spend just chillaxin’ with our pals? I wouldn’t consider someone a very good friend if they only came to me when they needed help. So it is with Jesus. He’s with you as your cruising down the street, blaring your tunes. He’s chilling with you while you check your facebook. He’s vegging on the couch as you rot your mind on the television. Admittedly, I don’t always think about Him being there all the time, but He is. A more obvious way to spend time with Him is by talking to Him, and by listening too. You may not necessarily hear a booming voice from heaven, but we can indeed hear from God. He might guide your thoughts, pop an idea in your head, give you a feeling in your heart, or speak through the Bible. He can speak to us in any number of ways… we just have to be listening for it.

We all have different types of friends. We might separate it into our church friends and school friends, or your drama club friends and your basketball friends, or your choir friends and your math class friends, etc. Chances are all these friends from all these areas of your life are of varying closeness to you, ranging from passing acquaintance to total BFF.

How many people does it take to make a real friendship work? (I know it might seem like I’m totally switching topics, but I’m not. Stick with me a minute!) Naturally, it involves both parties. Person A might be really interested in pursuing a relationship with Person B. Person B can either share the interest to a large degree, accept the friendly arrangement passively but without much excitement, or be totally opposed to the whole thing. For a close friendship to emerge, Person B has to want it, and they both have to put in the effort.

Now let’s bring these two ideas together. Simply because a person knows Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean they have a close relationship. Some people may be going to heaven, but they are more on an acquaintance level with Him. However, it is not because Jesus doesn’t want to draw close to these people. He’s like Person A. He loves you, and so greatly desires to be your friend and have that relationship… but it takes two to tango. Always the option for closeness is there. The question is, do we want Jesus as our BFF, or that Guy We Say Hi To Every Sunday?

Think now about your very closest (human) friend. If a mad gunman ran into the room and pulled the trigger, would that person take the hit for you? Even as I ask it, I rather hate this question. One can never know how things would play out until they really do, and I can only pray that it never happens to any of you (or me, for that matter). I don’t know that I would ever want my friends to love me that much… then they would be dead, I would be sad, and it’s just a bad situation all around. I can find no fault in the statement of John 15:13. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” It’s true, isn’t it? It rings so true to our human hearts that it is even reflected in the ideas of modern culture and media. I am reminded now of the first ‘Pirates’ movie, quite near the beginning. Jack turns to Will and says, “This girl… How far are you willing to go to save her?” Will quickly and vehemently replies, “I’d die for her!” “Oh good! No problems then.” I could list off a hundred more examples, but this one is my favorite. Romeo and Juliet, anyone? A Tale of Two Cities. Obi-wan in his forfeited duel with Darth Vader (ooh, two Star Wars references in one bible study!). Boromir and Gandalf’s heroic actions in Lord of the Rings. Aslan of Narnia. Dying for love…its frequent use only reflects its accuracy and the respect we have for the idea.

Jesus showed his love for us by doing just that. He took the blame for us, He took the punishment, He took the pain… and why? Because He loves us. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down life for his friends… let that statement soak in for a minute.

God wants to befriend you, and He went to great lengths to make this possible. Will you accept His friendship? What have you got to lose?

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.