There is a poem written in 1855 by Joseph M Scriven that has
resonated with me since I first discovered it as a child.
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.
These words still speak to my heart and leave me with some
questions: Do I really see Jesus as
"Friend?" Do I really believe
He bears all my "sins and griefs?"
Do I live awestruck at the privilege of carrying "everything to God
in prayer?"
I know the Biblically correct answer is
"Yes." However, I live in the
real world where I see a lot of people who claim the name of Jesus but who seem
to live in a void of uncertainty when it comes to God, to the redemptive
processes of Jesus, and to prayer. I desperately do not want to be one of those
persons.
Truth is, I wonder if we Christians, myself included, speak
a better word than we actually live. We
almost have an obligation to say the "right" words but, still, I
sometimes wonder if we fall short of living out the meaning of
"right." The potential to fall
short is troublesome, and I take the potential seriously. In my case, I want to be a Christlike
man. I want to be authentic. I don't want to look better than I really
am. I don't believe in show-and-tell
Christianity. Jesus really does call us
to Himself and in that calling to take up our cross and follow Him. He words are stunning: "If anyone wishes to come
after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me"
(Mathew 16:24).
Dietrich Bonhoeffer gave us the now famous line, "When Christ calls a man He bids him come and
die" (The Cost of Discipleship,
London: SCM Press, 1948/2001, p. 44). For
decades now people have talked about that phrase, myself included. When I first used the phrase it was because
of the drama in the wording. It was just
so powerful it needed to be shared. More
recently I have come to see it as a simple statement of Christian faith. This is a word that every follower of Jesus
should assimilate into their story, not for drama, but simply because of who
Jesus is and what He has provided in this world. When a man or woman has a friend the likes of
Jesus, to die to all else pales in comparison to the gift Jesus brings to their
life. I don't think this is an
overstatement in light of what Jesus said in John 15:14-15, "You
are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves,
for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you
friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to
you."
I have called you "Friends." Is that possible? Can this be true? Is this the way Jesus sees those who have
denied themselves, taken up their cross, and are following Him? He sees us as friends, not slaves. The apostle Paul writes a lot about us being
slaves. Jesus talks about us being
friends. Are the two compatible? I think so.
We are slaves in the sense that we are committed to do everything Jesus
asks of us, no matter what. We are
friends in the sense that we would do anything friendship might require of
us.
I think about this often as I seek to grow in my faith. We believers are not in a business arrangement
with God. It's not even an employer/employee
contract. It is a relationship, a relationship
of covenant love. It is not a matter of crossing T's and dotting I's. It is a
matter of the heart. Jesus loves us so
much that all He has heard from the Father He shares with us. He loves us so much that He always speaks the
truth to us. He loves us so much that He
suffered and then died on the cross.
How do we respond to such a love? The answer is not found in
legalism or ledger- keeping or "practicing [our] righteousness before men
to be noticed by them" (Matt. 6:1).
The love of God calls us out of ourselves and into His life. His love calls us to live so as to have
Christ formed in us (Galatians 4:19). In
fact, the fruit of His Spirit in us is, "Love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control"
(Galatians 5:22-23). Love is calling out
to us and calling us "friend."
And so it is we sing,
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.
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