I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
--John 15:15, New Revised Standard Version
In the church of my childhood, our pastor was a great preacher. He was ordained in 1920, and his deep booming voice sounded like claps of thunder. No microphone needed. He had learned the art of projecting well. What I remember today is the way he addressed us: "My Dear Christian Friends." I took those words literally. For him, they might have been part of his rhetorical style, but I heard them as an affirmation of friendship. To be a Christian and a member of Christ's church was to be rooted in a relationship of friendship. No matter what, we were still in this together. We were friends.
What we call each other matters. A classmate in preaching class would use "Folks" repeatedly in sermons to address his listeners. There was neither affirmation nor affection there. "People of God," "Brothers and Sisters," "Disciples of Christ," are often spoken today--but they do not satisfy my deepest hope for the church as a community: Friends with God and one another. And sadly, I often hear "they" or "them" when I am working with churches that are caught in chronic conflict. There is no friendship there--no love professed or lost. No church left.
So today, I am praying for "My Dear Christian Friends"--friends who are far away and friends who are very near, friends who bear heavy burdens with great courage and friends who inspire my heart to sing, friends who confront and friends who comfort. I thank God this morning for that aging preacher whose greeting still echoes in my mind. I praise God for all friends in Christ who share this journey with me.
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