Friendship and John
Sorry that I haven’t been writing for the last few days! I’m sure that you all know about the string of church events that stretched into last week. Also, during the middle of last week I was sick for a day or two. And I had a little trip that I take every year down to St. Amant, Lousiana (at the Parish Hermitage). All that added up to no blogging!I have been thinking a lot about friendship these days. This is not only because of some recent deaths in our congregation – which weigh on us on all – but also because of the trip this weekend. I simply love Judy and Eddie and the ministry that the are doing at the Hermitage. It was great to renew some friendships and deepen others. I’ll share more about the trip later. . . Back to friendships.
God has just made us to cherish these relationships and his glory is seen most clearly in them. The heavens do indeed declare God’s wonder, but people really do because they are God’s image. But there is nothing like sweet communion with friends. . . And there is nothing like the pain of departed friends or broken relationships. But whatever we do, our friendships are to be folded into that deep relationship that exists between Jesus and the Father.
This has all been on my mind as I’ve been reading and studying John chapters 5 and 6. Jesus shares the glory of the Father and gives that glory away to all those around him. From a lame man to the crowds by the shore, he is willing to create signs. But what he wants more than anything is for us to see the greater significance of his coming. Will we let Jesus be who He really is in our life?
“As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” – John 17:21
