Good morning!
I think the world needs more friends right now.
So this Sunday we are launching a new worship series about friendship.
I am so jazzed about this. For the last few weeks, I have been reading, thinking, and praying about friendship. Friendship is such a rich good gift. It makes me happy just to think about it.
Just so you don’t think this is Pastor Cindy off on a tangent, this is all based on John 15:15. In that verse, Jesus tells his disciples they are his friends. Jesus, just like us, needed friends. And he told them so. Have you ever done that? Told someone “you are my friend”? It feels like really putting yourself out there, being vulnerable, but Jesus did it. He claimed the people around him as friends. They were disciples for sure, but more than that, Jesus held them in a mutual relationship. That’s what friendship is, a mutual doing for one another. Jesus needed friends, and they needed him.
Preparing for this worship series has felt like opening a treasure chest. Friendship is rich, deep, and complicated. Friendship is an expression of love between imperfect people. It is a risky adventure. Friends love, and care, AND disappoint, and fail. They draw us into celebrations and adventures and they lean on us in times of heartache.
Jesus’ friends will bear their soul to him and he will bear his to them. They will share everything. But sometimes, he will be furious with them (Matthew 16). They will try to manipulate him (Matthew 20). They will fall asleep when he is weeping (Matthew 26) and when he needs them the most, they will run away. Sometimes he must have felt very much alone.
And yet they remain his friends. Because something draws us together. The big yawning ache of life and all its uncertainty has us always yearning for the support of others.
As I have been preparing this series, memories of friends have been flooding my mind. That has been delicious. College friend Chris, solid to the core. Lee, a seminary friend, sharing dozens of commutes to Kansas City. Jo, my opposite friend who takes me in directions I would never think of myself, and I am the better for it. Mary, my high school friend, I would not have survived those four years without her. Jeanne, mom-friend, caring for each other’s children like they were our own.
So as we prepare for this Sunday, I would like you to spend some time remembering friends, those people who entered your life when you needed them. Can you see the hand of God in your friendships? Nudging you toward each other? As you remember your friendships, reach your hand out and ask God to bless those who have blessed your life.
There’s so much more to friendship, but we’ll start here.
Blessings, friends,
Pastor Cindy
Pastor Cindy Hickman
West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Ave
West Des Moines Iowa 50265
515-279-0826
Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org.
We worship in person on Sunday mornings at 8:30. Please mask and social distance. This service is also live-streamed.
Our On-Line service posts on our Facebook page every Sunday at 9:30.
Worship in the way that is right for you!
Looking Ahead at WDMUMC
We’re Planning a Picnic!
Sue Williams and Liz Finch are hosting an All-Church Spring Picnic on May 12 at 5:30 at Raccoon River Park. The picnic will be outside—so bring your lawn chair! They need some help! Please contact Pastor Cindy if you would be willing to help set up and serve. It is time to party in the park together!
Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest and author is thinking about friendship
too. You can find his thoughts at https://cac.org/love-and-
No comments:
Post a Comment