Presented at First Congregational Church, UCC West Boylston, MA May 13, 2012.
Scriptures:
Acts 10:44-48
John 15:9-17
Jesus says something very interesting in this morning’s reading from the Gospel of John. He tells his disciples “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…”
Let’s think about that: I do not call you “Servants” any longer… but I have called you friends…
This is from the last great discourse Jesus gave to his disciples before his death in the Gospel of John. He is telling his disciples that something has changed. They are no longer like anonymous servants or slaves, lost in the shadow of the Messiah. They are no longer nameless or faceless figures in the gospels. They are now “friends” – and more than that in fact, because the Greek word we read as “friends” in this passage is perhaps better translated as “Those Whom I Love.”
The Here and the Hereafter 