New Testament
Lesson
II Corinthians 1:1-5
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and
Timothy our brother,
To the church of God
that is in Corinth,
including all the saints throughout Achaia:
2 Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the
God of all consolation, 4 who
consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who
are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled
by God. 5 For just as the sufferings
of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through
Christ.
In
the movie “Castaway,” Tom Hanks plays an employee of Federal Express. Early in the movie, he boards a jet plane and
says good-bye to his girlfriend. He
gives her the keys to his car and says, “I’ll be right back.”
Well,
everyone who bought a ticket to that movie knew that wasn’t going to be. Because we all knew from the advertisements
that this movie was about a man trying to survive on a deserted island after a
terrible plane crash.
When
the character played by Tom Hanks gave the car keys to his girlfriend, you
wanted to scream out at him to keep the keys.
Because hooked to the key chain was a Swiss Army knife.
Alone
on a deserted island, you could use a knife like that.
After
the crash, the lonely man walks the beach gathering debris from the crashed
Federal Express plane. He opens the
boxes looking for something to help him survive. Perhaps a Swiss Army knife or two.
But
no.
Instead
he finds things that, at least on the surface, seem useless.
Ice
Skates. Yep, they would come in handy on
a small tropical island.
Videotapes.
A
volleyball.
Yet,
in time each becomes useful. Including
the volleyball. Tom Hanks draws a face
on it one night and begins talking to it, in order to pass the time. He even addresses this volleyball by name – Wilson.
At
first this seems to be just a way to entertain himself. But after five years of being alone on that
island, this light-hearted source of entertainment becomes an obsession.
Right
before making the decision to try to get off the island in a homemade boat, the
character played by Tom Hanks becomes angry and frustrated and to express that
anger he takes the volleyball named Wilson
and throws it away, into the sea.
The
marooned man watches the ball as it falls into the sea and suddenly realizes,
“That was stupid.” And he goes after the
ball. He risks his life rescuing his
friend (the volleyball), swimming against the tide and among the rocky beach
until at last he has in his hands his friend (the volleyball).
He
looks at it and says, “Wilson. Wilson. I’m so sorry.
I’ll never do that again. Forgive
me!” He says this to his friend (the
volleyball).
Yep,
at this point the viewer of the movie knows, this man has been alone on that
island way too long.
There
is a silliness in that moment, but the way Tom Hanks plays his part, it’s more
tragic than silly.
We
all desperately need friendships.
And
it doesn’t matter whether we are the only person on an island far from anyone
else, or if we are in a crowd.
Our
church has identified seven marks of discipleship. These are seven characteristics that every Christian,
every Presbyterian, ever member and visitor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian
Church should exhibit.
One
of these seven marks is Spiritual Friendship.
Friendship
is important to us all.
We
sing songs about friendship.
We
write poems about friendship.
We
love stories about friendship, especially when it involves loyalty under
pressure.
And
yet – we are painfully aware of our loneliness.
It
is not God’s will for us to be alone and lonely. In fact, in the opening verses of Genesis,
God makes that very observation – “It is not good for man to be alone.”
(Genesis 2:18)
We
need people who can show friendship to us, and we need people to whom we can be
a friend.
But
not just friendship, you need a spiritual friendship that can
only be found in a church.
I
want us to look at several passages of Scripture that can teach us about a
different key to building successful Spiritual Friendships.
The
first key is CONSISTENCY, and we find it reflected in Proverbs 17:17, which
says, “A friend loves at all times.”
One
of the reasons why many of us may feel lonely is that in what friendships we
have, there is a lack of consistency.
We
can’t depend on them, and they can’t depend on us.
But
in building a true spiritual friendship, God would have us to be consistent. “A friend loves at all times.”
Not
sometimes.
Not
when it is convenient.
But
at all times.
I
heard about this incredible story several years ago.
In
November of 1992, a 65 gentleman suffered a fatal heart attack while playing
golf.
As
his body lay on the 16th green, covered with a sheet, and while course
officials tried to contact his wife and funeral home personnel, the three men
who had been playing with man had called 911 to report his death, but then
continued onto the 17th and finally the 18th tee to
continue their game.
"Life
goes on," said one man, "so we had to keep going."
How
deep were those relationships? They were shallow because real friends put aside
self-serving agenda and help where it’s needed.
“A
friend loves at all times,” says Proverbs.
So
often our friendship is based on convenience.
But in spiritual friendships we need to be friends at ALL times,
convenient or not.
The
second key to successful Spiritual Friendship is MUTUAL ENCOURAGEMENT AND
SUPPORT.
Jackie
Robinson was a baseball player from many years ago. He was a great player, but
he is perhaps best known for having been the first African-American to play
major league baseball. While breaking baseball’s "color barrier," he
faced the boos and insults of crowds in every stadium.
While
playing one day the fans began booing Robinson – which was not unusual, but
this day it was particularly bad.
He
stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans booed him.
That’s
when shortstop "Pee Wee" Reese called for a time out and walked
toward Robinson and stood next to him. This man put his arm around Jackie
Robinson and faced the crowd.
The
fans grew quiet.
Robinson
later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career.
How
often do we need the friendship of another person? Someone who can simply be there for us. I’m not talking just about those
nights when there is an ambulance in the driveway or the boss has fired you or
your teenage son has been arrested. I’m
also talking about those days when nothing tragic has happened, but you’ve just
had a no-good lousy miserable day.
Paul said in one the
first letter to the Thessalonians, “So encourage one another and build each
other up...” (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Or
to put it in the words of our Old Testament lesson: "Two are better than one, because they
have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him
up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! (Ecclesiastes
4:9-12)
This
is a tough world, and we need each other’s encouragement to get through the
day.
The
third key is HONEST AUTHENTICITY.
Authenticity
means that you’re real. You are honest about who you are and how you feel.
Most
of us spend so much time and energy trying to be something we are not in the
eyes of others. We deceive others about
who we are. We pretend to be something
we are not.
There
is a story of a newly promoted colonel had moved into a makeshift office during
the Iraqi War. He was just getting unpacked when out of the corner of his eye,
he noticed a private with a toolbox coming his way.
Wanting
to seem important, he grabbed the phone and pretended to be in the middle of a
conversation: “Yes sir, Mr.
President. I’ll be happy to do that Mr.
President. Well that’s kind of the First
Lady, you give her my regards as well.”
He
hung up the phone on that none existent conversation and looked at the
private. "And what can I do for
you?" he asked the young soldier.
The
private looked at the colonel sheepishly and said, “Well, sir, I’m just here to
hook up your telephone."
We
need to be honest with ourselves and others.
If
we’re all about making good impressions and keeping up appearances we’ll never
go deep in our Spiritual Friendships.
Why
do we put up the fronts? Even Jesus Christ admitted to his closest friends when
he was in need. The night before his crucifixion, knowing what was about to
take place, Jesus revealed his true feelings to his friends. Looking at Peter, James and John, he told
them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death." (Matthew
26:37-38)
Jesus
was real.
He
never tried to pretend he was something he wasn’t. He was never dishonest with who he is, even
when he was in deep despair.
In
his New Testament letter, James said, “Confess your sins to each other and pray
for each other so that you may be healed.”
(James 5:16)
Spiritual
friendships are honest and authentic.
The
final and most important key to any strong Spiritual Friendship is THE PRESENCE
OF CHRIST.
There
are many kinds of communities. Fraternal Organizations abound. Groups like
Kiwanis; Lions; Jaycee’s; and the Masons. Even Fred Flintstone was part of the
“Water Buffaloes”. There are many Local Clubs and Youth Gangs - all of which
have community. Even prisons become communities.
In
a small town in Iowa,
a lonely 76-year-old ex-convict demanded two $50 bills from a bank teller and
then announced he would be outside in his car smoking a cigarette -- waiting to
be returned to prison.
Bank
employees were not sure he was serious, but they gave him the money. As Stewart
left the bank, he said he would be in his car, smoking a cigarette, which is
where police found him.
Stewart
said he had no family and wanted to go back to federal prison.
Prison
is a poor substitute for real community! Youth Gangs are a poor substitute for
real community. And even positive groups
like some of our social organizations fall short of the fellowship found in the
church.
Spiritual
Friendship always includes the presence of Jesus Christ in the relationship.
Join
us in Conway Hall after worship for friendship AND coffee.
For
the ladies there are circles.
For
men and women there are Bible Studies.
For
all ages there are Sunday School Classes.
There
are youth groups – and if you aren’t so young any longer, volunteer to help be
one of the leaders.
“It is not good for anyone to be alone,” so
said God when he created us. And that is
so true. Why, therefore, would we choose
to be alone when God calls us to build Spiritual Friendships?
Copyright Maynard
Pittendreigh, 2012
All Rights Reserved
