Jesus, a Perfect Friend for Sinners

Scripture concerns itself more with BEING a perfect friend rather than HAVING perfect friends. Yesterday I concluded the Law portion of the sermon by saying that “lousy friends are all there are.”  That may seem harsh, but according to the Law of God, it is true, because the Law demands perfection in every area of friendship. When we think through boundaries in friendships, we should first, ourselves, be slain by the Law of God (which is anytime we are told to “do” something in Scripture).  We should grieve at our inability to carry out its demands. Think about it like this…when I was in college, I was a Piano Performance Major, which meant I was expected to learn the great piano repertoire.  When I would tackle a piece like Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, I would reach for a certain standard.  I remember that Andre Watts had performed this Concerto on PBS and a mentor gave me a copy of it. As I watched Andre Watts flawlessly execute the passages, and bring his years of experience to bear on the piece, I knew that I could not measure up at that point in my life.  But that did not stop me from using his performance, which was perfection, as a standard to strive towards. The Law of God is the same way. It shows us what is pleasing and glorifying to God while at the same time showing us that we all fall short of that glory of God (Romans 3: 23). Compared to Andre Watts…even my best efforts were meager and fell short.  You could say that I was a “lousy” pianist if Andre Watts was the standard.  If a fellow piano major was the standard…perhaps I would fare better. In the same way, all of us our “lousy friends” when the standard of a “perfect friend” is Jesus who carried out the demands of the Law perfectly in thought, word, and deed. 

The Epistle of James, which teaches us a lot about friendship, perplexed Martin Luther, who said of James:  "We should throw the epistle of James out of this school [i.e. Wittenburg], for it doesn't amount to much. It contains not a syllable of Christ. Not once does it mention Christ, except at the beginning. I maintain that some [person] wrote it who probably heart about Christian people but never encountered any. Since he heard that Christians place great weight on faith in Christ, he thought, 'wait a moment! I'll oppose them and urge works alone.' This he did."

With all due respect to one of my heroes, I think Luther may not have made the connection that James is New Testament "wisdom literature."  It's Old Testament companion is the book of Proverbs. In some ways, wisdom literature cannot always be taken literally.  Wisdom literature lives in the world of hyperbole, metaphor, rhetorical questions, simile, and the like.  While we need to view the Epistle of James from a historical-grammatical  perspective, we can also see it as Law which drives us to our need for Jesus, the "friend" of sinners who sticks closer than a brother.  

The very first thing James says is to “consider it pure joy” when you face all kinds of trials so that we will become steadfast and “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1: 2-3).  A perfect friend is one who is there for others during all kinds of trials. He doesn’t avoid his friends when things get tough. He isn’t a “fair-weather friend”.  He is steadfast…perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  He is also incredibly wise, because he spends time in the word of God. As he spends time in the word of God, his faith and knowledge are deepened (James 1: 5-6) and grace and peace are multiplied in his relationships (2 Pet 1: 2).  He is “slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to become angry” (James 1: 19-20).  He realizes that his internal passions are the problem in his friendships and that coveting kills friendships (James 4: 1-2).  He is very careful about judging others especially in the context of gossip (James 4: 11-12).  He prays for his friends and is open, honest, and transparent about his own faults (James 5: 16).  And he realizes that these qualities merely scrape the surface of what is required of us in friendships.  

Lists like these, Laws like these, keep us humble and our expectations of others low.  When we are finally slain by the Law of God and realize we can’t measure up…we run to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Gospel is that Jesus was and is a perfect friend to you and to me….Jesus is there through trials and he endured the greatest trial, the Cross, due to the “joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2), Jesus deepened in his knowledge of God as a young boy (Luke 2: 52), and is in constant communion with God.  Jesus was always slow to speak, he is always slow to anger and patient with us, and Scripture says Jesus prays for us (John 17: 20-23, Romans 8: 34), intercedes for us…he is the perfect friend.  

The Gospel is that God sent his Son, the perfect friend, to be the perfect friend, for those who crumbled under trials…for those who weren’t steadfast…for those who lacked wisdom in friendships…for those who didn’t care as much as they should have about the deep things of God…for those who talked too much and for those who were not slow to anger, but quick to become angry…for those who conceal their sins…for those who don’t accept others for who they are, but judge others for who they are…for those who expect more from others than they do for themselves…God sent his son to pay the price for those kinds of people, because when compared to the standards of friendship according to the Law, those are the only kinds of friends there are.  When we determine “boundaries” in friendships, we must always view those boundaries through the grid of the Gospel and how Jesus was a “friend” of sinners. That doesn’t mean that we are a punching bag.  We are always called to forgive.  But it takes one to forgive, but two to reconcile. How do you know when to reconcile? That requires a tremendous amount of wisdom. The Law is for the hard-hearted while the Gospel is for the soft-hearted.  If a friend has hurt you and they are hard-hearted your response is to offer them the grace of the Law lest you also sin (Gal 6: 1).  If a friend has hurt you and they are broken-hearted your response is to offer them the wild, unpredictable, glorious grace of the Gospel…

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.