6^th Sunday after Easter

Gospel – John 15:9-17

You’ve Got a Friend in Me

On the Jordan River

I found this story a while ago!  We all know what it’s like to get that phone call in the middle of the night. This night’s call was no different. Jerking up to the ringing summons, I focused on the red illuminated numbers of my clock. Midnight! Panicky thoughts filled my sleep-dazed mind as I grabbed the receiver.

“Hello?”  My heart pounded; I gripped the phone tighter and eyed my wife, who was now turning to face my side of the bed.  “Daddy?” I could hardly hear the whisper over the static. But my thoughts immediately went to my daughter. When the desperate sound of a young crying voice became clearer on the line, I grabbed for my wife and squeezed her wrist.

“Daddy, I know it’s late, but don’t…don’t say anything, until I finish. And before you ask, yes, I’ve been drinking. I nearly ran off the road a few miles back, and…”

I drew in a sharp shallow breath, released my wife and pressed my hand against my forehead. Sleep still fogged my mind, and I attempted to fight back the panic. Something wasn’t right.

“And I got so scared. All I could think about was how it would hurt you if a policeman came to your door and said I’d been killed. I want…to come home. I know running away was wrong. I know you’ve been worried sick. I should have called you days ago, but I was afraid…afraid…”

Sobs of deep-felt emotion flowed from the receiver and poured into my heart. Immediately I pictured my daughter’s face in my mind and my fogged senses seemed to clear. “I think…”

“No! Please let me finish! Please!” She pleaded, not so much in anger but in desperation.  I paused and tried to think of what to say. Before I could go on, she continued, “Daddy, I know I shouldn’t be drinking, but I’m scared, Daddy. So scared!”

The voice broke again and I bit into my lip, feeling my own eyes fill with moisture.  “Are you still there? Please don’t hang up on me! I need you. I feel so alone.”  I clutched the phone and stared at my wife, seeking guidance. “I’m here, I wouldn’t hang up,” I said.

“You know, back there on the road, after I got the car under control, I saw this phone booth and it was as if I could hear you preaching about people shouldn’t drink and drive. So I called a taxi. I want to come home.”

“That’s good, Honey,” I said as relief filled my chest. My wife came closer, sat down beside me and laced her fingers through mine. I knew from her touch that she thought I was doing and saying the right thing.  “But you know, I think I can drive now.”

“No!” I snapped. My muscles stiffened, and I tightened the clasp on my wife’s hand. “Please, wait for the taxi. Don’t hang up on me until the taxi gets there.”  “I just want to come home, Daddy.”   “I know. But do this for your Daddy. Wait for the taxi, please.”

I listened to the silence in fear. When I didn’t hear her answer, I bit into my lip and closed my eyes. Somehow I had to stop her from driving.  “There’s the taxi, now.”

Only when I heard someone in the background asking about a Yellow Cab did I feel my tension easing.  “I’m coming home, Daddy.” There was a click and the phone went silent.

My wife wrapped her arms around me and rested her chin on the top of my head.  I let her hold me for several moments, then I pulled back and stared back at her. She studied me for a second, then asked, “Do you think she’ll ever know she dialed the wrong number?”

What love!  What compassion!  What honesty and guidance!  What concern and caring for another!  In the middle of the night, safely in bed and sound asleep!  And all this for a stranger!   And if you really think about it, aren’t those the same qualities we look for in others and in ourselves when we call someone a friend!

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells the disciples “I call you friends for so indeed you are”.  Friends!!  Not simply followers or disciples!  Not subjects or worshippers!  Not even mere companions!  Friends!  It’s a good opportunity for us today to reflect on what it means to be a friend, what it means to have a best friend.  Friendship, real friendship, is a relationship built on love and not convenience, based on the depth of that love and not frequency of contact.

At its core, a real friend is someone who accepts you as you are, not as they want you to be.  A real friend is someone who has seen you at your worst and still stands beside you.  A real friend loves you, warts and all.  A real friend sees the best in you even when you refuse to see it yourself. 

Jesus calls His disciples friends, He has seen them at their worst; they doubt Him, they deny Him, they abandon Him.  And He still calls them friends.  He still loves them enough to lay down His life for them.  And not just for the disciples but for each of us.  He has seen all of us at our worst, even when we doubted, even when we turned our back on Him.  And yet He still loves us, still walks with us, still recognizes the good in us.   

With compassion and love, with care and concern, with honesty and support, Jesus calls us FRIEND, each and every one of us!  And He challenges us to be that same kind of friend to others, no matter who, no matter the time of day or circumstance or inconvenience! 

If we really think about it, maybe that wasn’t a wrong number after all!