Monday, August 24, 2009

What do your friends look like?

What is a friend? How do they look? Act? Behave? Do I have real friends or situational sidekicks? I am convinced that one of the most misunderstood, misapplied and misused terms in the English vocabulary is the term "friend". Everyone has them but do we really know what a friend is?

A British publication once offered a prize for the best definition of a friend, They received thousands of entries but the definition that won the contest was this: A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out". This is a good description of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, they came in when the whole world had gone out. While I will deal with the negative side of their visit at another time, there is something positive to be learned from their visit.

Job 2:11 ESV starts out by saying NOW,! What has happened? It's real simple: Job has lost 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yokes of oxen, 500 donkeys, 7 boys and 3 girls, all his workers are dead except 4, NOW, his wife has said, "Curse God and Die", NOW, he has ulcers, Itching, Disfiguration, no appetite, Depression, Sores, Scabs and worms living in the sores, it's hard to breath, Skin is blackening, Foul Breath, Loss of weight, Fever, Diarrhea, Delusions and he is living in constant pain, NOW. Physically he is in agony, Emotionally he is in anguish, Spiritually he feels abandoned, Financially he is in arrears, Culturally, he is ashamed, NOW they show up.

I said that because it is easy to be a friend to someone on a good day, when they have money, a job, no death, disappointment or drama has come but can you be there for them on the dark days?

I. They made an Intentional Appointment VS. 11
a. Look at their Conversation
b. Look at their Destination

Their meeting was not accidental, it was purposeful. It was pre-arranged, pre-discussed. They decided in advance to show up, Notice they did not run away from their friend, but they ran towards him. Real friends don't need an invitation, they just need an opportunity. When Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, they never said, come now, or come quickly, all they said was, the one you love is very sick. Love doesn't need an invitation, just an opportunity.

II. They Displayed An Invaluable Attitude--VS 12.
a. Look at their Character
1. screamed
2. wept
3. tore robes
4. sprinkled dust

b. Look at their Conduct
1. Console- shake head, rock body back and forth, shared grief
2. Comfort- attempt to ease deepest pain caused by tragedy.

III. They Made an Inescapable Assessment
a. The Power of Presence-(Showed up)
b. The Power of Position-( Gave up titles-sat down in trash)
c. The Power of Peace- (Shut up)


As usual, I have written too much so I leave you on this, William E. Hulme in his Pastoral Discourse book on Job entitled Dialogue in Despair says among other things in his treatment of Job, "There are certain situations where words are useless but God has given us "The sacrament of silence where He teaches us the Power of Presence and Peace".

Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to play major league baseball. While breaking baseball's color barrier, he faced jeering crowds in every stadium. While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error. His own fans began to ridicule him. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans booed, jeered and threw racial insults.

"Pee Wee" Reese a shortstop on the team came over and stood next to Jackie. He then put his arm around Jackie and faced the crowd. The fans grew quiet, the booing stopped, the jeers ceased and the insults evaporated. Jackie Robinson would later say that arm around my shoulder saved his career.

When someone is hurting, they don't need a speech, they need an arm, they need a shoulder, they need a place where they can run to. In case you have not been able to find a friend to lean on, run to, an arm to hold, there is not a friend like the lowly Jesus, No not one, What a friend we have in Jesus, all of our sins and grieves to bear, what a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer.

Owens

5 comments:

Pastor A. A. McGhee said...

Revun!! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, shouting me like this on Monday! This is a masterful post. Solid exposition and practical application. Thanks!!

Keith D. Witherspoon said...

You just cleared it up for me. By your service being earlier than mine, the saints at BBc came there first and shouted like crazy and brought some of it back to BBC!

Great Post Doc!!!

Ronald said...

Usher’s, back row in the corner man from California is bucking uncontrollable.

Keep Preaching Pastor Owens
Ron

Rev. Barney said...

That's rich brother. It needs to be shared on myspace, facebook, black universe and from the roof top. Keep running man!!

Elderbc2 said...

Owens,

Why don't you just quit? You are going to shout me to a heart attack up in here! Lord knows I need a real friend, but even they wouldn't compare to Jesus. GREAT POST!