Exploring Christian Friendship Through Jesus' Example

Being the first Sunday of the month we do not have children’s church, but I would like for the kids to come up to the front and sit up here. Come on up kids. I want to talk about friendship. What are some things that people do that make them a good friend?

What are some bad things? Are those people really your friends? What kind of a friend are you? What kind of things do you do for your friends that help them know that you are their friend?

Let’s give these kids a hand!

I just love the simpleness of children and how us adults can learn valuable lessons from them. Sad thing is that as adults even in the simplest things we can make them so difficult.

I have been encouraging you to read your bibles. I have put out scriptures, week by week for us to read together and in those scriptures, I ask God to reveal what He wants me to talk about. And as most of the message today will come from the reading, Matthew 26-27 our main text is found in I Peter 4. Let’s read that.

In the scripture reading this week, we are at the point in Jesus’ life that is the last couple of days of Jesus life leading up to His death. My hope is that you are making the time to read your bible. That you will not only read the scripture that I give you, but also do more of it on your own.

If you are like me and you don’t like to read, thank the Good Lord that there are bible apps that will read the scriptures to you. So, making the excuse of not reading because you don’t like to read, is just that an excuse.

Anyway, what we find in our reading this week is some really bad ways to be a friend. We are told about how the disciples acted in the last days of Jesus’ life and it kind of reminds me of the way I act from time to time. One thing that is not on my list of being a bad friend is not making time for your friends. If we want to have good relationships, we must make time for each other. If we want to have a good relationship with God, we must make time for Him too. So, that was a bonus point. You’re welcome.

Let’s see how the “friends” of Jesus messed it up. Point one.

1. Some will knock you down to get what they want.

Matthew 26:14-15

Back when I worked at the cereal plant, there was a management job up for bid. I didn’t bid on the job, because I already had the job that was great for me. I was able to get overtime when I wanted it. Take days off without using vacation. Help out with maintenance or other things that I liked to do.

I actually even got to go bird hunting while on the clock. That was actually part of my job. I was the head of pest control and from time to time, birds would get in the plant and we would have to get rid of them, usually with a pellet gun, but sometimes we could get them to fly out the door, but that was rare. I had a great relationship with management and they valued my opinion for many decisions that were made.

During the interview process of those that bid on the job, I was told by a few of the managers, that were doing interviews, that I was thrown under the bus by one particular candidate for the job. And upper management told me about the accusations and eventually told me who it was that was making them. I said that if I am doing something wrong, then I need corrected and I am okay with that. This person wanted promoted so bad, that they didn’t care who they stepped on to get the promotion.

Judas thought that Jesus was going to be an earthly king and that Jesus just needed a little push. Judas wasn’t thinking about Jesus, he was only in it for himself.

We will have so called friends like that from time to time, but we have to make sure that we are not like that ourselves.

2. When the going gets tough, some friends will bail out.

Matthew 26:55-56

My Senior year of high school, as soon as school was out in the first semester I would head to work. I would work from 4-10:30 or 11. My last hour of school was weight training, (gym) and some how there were too many people taking weight training and the coach had decided that those not in sports would run on M-W-F and lift weights T-T.

Almost every day we ran; he increased the distance that we were required to run and he was heard making the statement that he would continue to increase the distance until enough dropped his class. So, one of the other students had a plan for all of us to walk. We got to the track and took off walking the whole time the coach was yelling at us to run. When we completed the first lap coach was standing there mad as a hornet and told us to run or go to the office. The one with great idea to walk, took off running and about 8 of us walked to the principal’s office. The guy that started it all, left us high and dry.

The disciples stuck with Jesus for a while but when it got real, I mean really real, they left Jesus. Everyone of them. He had shown them love and miracles and taught them and they left Him. And there will be times that our friends will leave us, when the going gets tough. Don’t be that kind of friend either.

So many Christians look back at how the disciples acted in the garden and make comments like, “I would have never ran away.” Or “If I would have been there, Jesus would not have been the only one arrested.” I love how tough we are 2000+ years in the future. I love how tough we are 6000 miles away from Nigeria or 7,100 miles from Iran. It is easy to be tough when you are no where near the scary stuff.

When our co-worker starts bashing God, do we make a stand or do we bail out? Are we there when the going gets tough or do we just get going? Just a thought from the pastor.

There is another great example of a bad friend in our reading for this past week. Point 3 shows us that….

3. Some will unfriend you.

Matthew 26:69-75

Several years ago, I had a friend on Facebook, that we didn’t see eye to eye on politics. He would not only make false claims about what was going on in the world, he would also, express his opinion about church goers.

Now, I love a great argument. I love to banter back and forth about how wrong you are. It’s really easy, but as most of you know, you will never win an argument with hate. You definitely will not win on Facebook or any other social media platform. This friend of mine (actually more than one) would get into discussions with me on Facebook. When the conversation really became counterproductive, I would make a comment about having the discussion at another time and not on a public channel.

I actually messaged one of those friends privately to commend him for standing up for his beliefs and that even though we disagreed with each other that we could still be friends. He thanked me for telling him that and we went on with life. Then, about 2-3 months later, someone asked me if I had seen the latest post from this guy and so I went to look for it and he had unfriended me and blocked me.

What kind of friend will stop being your friend when they don’t like the way things are going?

Peter, my man, who just a few hours earlier cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest in the garden, when they came to arrest Jesus, is now denying even knowing Jesus and cursing those that were accusing him.

When it comes to being a good friend, do not be that friend. Do not follow what the disciples did the last couple of days of Jesus life, with that thought lets look at our last point.

4. Be the one that will give it all up for your friend.

John 15:12-15

John 21:15-17

Matthew 27 has a lot in it from the death of Judas to the death of Jesus. 2 very distinct types of death. One death was because that person could not forgive their own sin. One death was to forgive everyone’s sin.

Not only did Jesus die for you and me, he died for the one that betrayed Him. Jesus died for the one that denied Him, He died for those friends that deserted Him. Jesus did all He could to fulfill His responsibility in the plan of Salvation.

He did it for those that liked Him and those that hated Him

As we close our service this morning, I want you to think about someone that you know needs the Lord. One of your friends or family members that have never given God control of their life. If you will I want you to come get a card and put their initials on the card and I want you to take that person all the way to the cross. Pin that name to the cross with a promise to be praying for that person. I am going to have just some instruments playing and the lights down and I want you to choose a person that you will be a friend like Jesus to. Will you do that this morning?

Don't Be That Friend