INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever thought about the company you keep? Who you hang with? The people you associate with? Most of us don't. Our parents did or do when we're teenagers. Who you are associated with, who you're friends are, sometimes says a lot about who you are. Sometimes who you choose as friends says a lot about your own reputation.

In the movie Shanghai Noon (which is rated PG-13) Jackie Chan plays Chon Wang, a Chinese imperial guard who is on a mission to save a kidnapped Chinese princess in the Old West. He hooks up with and outlaw, Roy Obanyon who agrees to help him. On the trail of the kidnappers, they spot the infamous Marshall Van Cleef's. The Marshall calls out to Roy and Chon, telling them to surrender. Roy freaks out, but Chon doesn't understand what the big deal is. Let's watch the scene.

(SHOW CLIP) Sometimes who you choose as friends says a lot about your own reputation. Chon Wang finds out the hard way that he's a bad guy simply because of the friend he has chosen, simply because he's been hanging out with Roy. (1)

Sometimes it works just the opposite, too. Look at the company Jesus kept. To the religious establishment, Jesus couldn't be the Messiah because He associated with the sick and lame, prostitutes and tax collectors, fisherman and women. How could He be the Messiah. Surely the Messiah would come to the righteous ones, like them.

At the Last Supper, Jesus not only talks about his coming death and resurrection but He also talks about His deep love for the disciples. Let's look at what He says.

John 15:9-17 (NRSV)

[9] As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

[10] If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

[11] I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

[12] "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

[13] No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

[14] You are my friends if you do what I command you.

[15] 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.

[16] You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.

[17] I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

I just love this passage. It reminds us that God is the initiator of our relationship. It's God who chose us, not the other way around. From the beginning of time God chose us. From the moment of our conception, God chose us. In sending His Son, Jesus, into the world God chose us.

And from the beginning of time, God has been whispering that choice in our ear. God has been quietly singing that choice to us in a love song that speaks quietly to our heart. It's verses can be seen and heard in the smile a a child and a beautiful sunrise. It can be seen and heard in the chorus of a familiar hymn or the weeping of loved one at a funeral.

All of those things are designed to lead us to say "Yes" to God's choice and say "Yes" to God. But from the beginning of time, God has chosen us. And this passage tells us that we are CHOSEN TO LOVE, CHOSEN AS FRIEND AND CHOSEN AND APPOINTED.

I. CHOSEN TO LOVE:

A. This passage from John reminds us that we've been CHOSEN TO LOVE. From the beginning of time. From the beginning of creation itself, God chose to love us. God chose Us to love.

Mahalia Jackson was one of the premiere singers of all time. For ten years she sang with Tommy Dorsey. And then started recording on her own. She sang jazz and pop tunes but her greatest love was singing Gospel. There's probably no greater renditions of "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" and "He's Got the Whole World In His Hand" than those done by Mahalia Jackson.

After a concert in Tokyo, Mahalia Jackson was introduced to the Emperor of Japan. The Emperor commented on Ms. Jackson's extraordinary voice. She in turn replied, "I can take you to over 200 of my people who have better voices. But one day God reached down his big hand and said, 'Mahalia, baby, I chooses you."

Knowing that we've been CHOSEN TO LOVE by God, makes us feel pretty special.

B. Have you ever not been chosen? It's tough not to be chosen or even to be chosen last. Whether it's for the pickup softball game or dodge ball team or family.

It felt awful growing up, feeling like I didn't belong and wasn't wanted. You see, I grew up knowing that my mother and father divorced when I was nine months old. I never saw my biological father again. Never had the chance to meet him. He never tried to contact me. And I never got to ask him why.

My mother remarried a couple of years later. My Dad, my stepfather made it plain, both through his actions and his words that I wasn't his. I know now that my perceptions about my Dad, weren't always correct and that he did the best that he could. But I grew up feeling like an outcast. My father didn't want me, and my stepfather didn't want me.

Then I met Mary. And for the first time in my life I truly felt loved and wanted. I felt special because I fell in love with her and she chose to love me back. I still feel that today. I've spent the last 33 years trying to tell Mary in song, in poetry, in gifts and cards and in the things that I do and don't do, just how much I love her. I blow it a lot. I don't always do what she expects or wants. But she knows how much I love her and I know how much she loves me. And that makes all the difference.

And I didn't think there would ever be a love that could outshine the love I felt both from and for Mary. But there was and there is. And it's a love I didn't even go looking for. It's a love that came looking for me. It's the love of Christ Jesus who says: "You did not choose me but I chose you."

It's like God stuck His hand in a giant basket filled with all the names of all the people and pulled out my name.

It's like God spread out all the pictures of all the most undeserving people in the world on top of His massive desk, reached in and said: "This is the one, I choose You." And then He wrapped me in the arms of His unconditional, grace filled, forgiveness and love.

And the Good News is the God does that for each of us. individually. God didn't reach down and scoop us all up in a net like a giant catch of fish. God painstakingly CHOSE each of us individually. God CHOSE TO LOVE US INDIVIDUALLY AND UNIQUELY. YOU'VE BEEN CHOSEN, TO LOVE.

II. CHOSEN AS FRIEND:

A. Knowing that we've been CHOSEN TO LOVE by God, makes us feel pretty special but it also makes us feel pretty humble. And what's even more humbling is the fact that BEING CHOSEN TO LOVE ALSO MEANS WE'VE BEEN CHOSEN AS FRIENDS OF JESUS.

You know, knowing that loved is one thing. But knowing that you are someone's friend is something else entirely. Doesn't it make you feel good when someone you know, introduces you to someone else and tells that person: "I'd like you to meet one of my best friends."

It lifts your spirits. It draws you close. Well, that's exactly what Jesus did. He changed our status in His eyes and in God's eyes. He told the disciples and tells us: [15] "I'm no longer calling you servants . . . No, I've named you friends." (Msg)

That's incredible, don't you think. To have Jesus consider us His friend. Not in the sense of the hymn "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" but to truly be a Friend of Jesus. One He would introduce and say: "This is my Friend."

B. Being a friend of Jesus has a very deep meaning which describes our relationship with God. You see Eastern kings had a small intimate group called "Friends of the King." These were people who could enter at any time and any place without a security check. They had immediate and complete access to the king no matter what was going on. When Jesus says we are His "friends" He is saying that we have immediate access to God through him, anytime, anywhere!

It's much more than being just a constituent or servant or even neighbor or follower. It's as much as, or maybe even more than, a daughter or son.

WE HAVE BEEN CHOSE, AS A FRIEND OF JESUS.

III. CHOSEN AND APPOINTED:

A. BEING CHOSEN TO LOVE AND CHOSEN AS A FRIEND OF JESUS HAS ITS PRIVILEGES BUT IT ALSO HAS IT'S RESPONSIBILITIES, TOO. THAT MEANS WE ARE CHOSEN AND APPOINTED.

All that really means is that because we are CHOSEN, we have some responsibilities to carry out. I know some of you are thinking, this sounds like boot camp or the military when the Sarge or the Chief would come up and say: "I need 2 volunteers. You and you." It's not like that at all.

Do you know what friends do? The main business of friendship is to sustain, uphold, strengthen and make each other's burdens bearable. We may do more of that as friends than we do anything else.

Friends help us get through the tough times. Friends offer encouragement when the other person desperately needs it. Friends shore each other up to face the unfairness and arbitrariness of life in this world. Friends offer a hand and a kind word. And sometimes friends offer simply offer silent companionship.

That's what Jesus was wanting when He asked Peter, James and John to accompany Him to the Garden to pray. He simply wanted to be with his friends. And He wanted to know His friends were with Him in the hour of his temptation.

B. And that's the challenge of being CHOSEN AND APPOINTED. The challenge we face is CHOOSING TO BE CHOSEN. Saying "Yes" to God's Choice. We show our choice by how we live. Jesus tells us to "love one another as [He has loved us]."

It was Franks first day at Junior High School. It began with an opening assembly where all the home room teachers were introduced. First to be introduced was Miss Smith, and the 9th graders, knowing Miss Smith to be an easy grader and not much of a disciplinarian, all began to cheer: "Yay, Miss Smith, right on Miss Smith."

The next to be introduced was Mr. Brown, who was a young and popular teacher and a special favorite. This time, the 8th graders joined in the thundering approval: "Yay, Mr. Brown, hurrah for Mr. Brown!" By the time the next teacher was introduced, even the new 7th graders were getting into the spirit of things.

Then they introduced Mr. Johnson. He was an older teacher who was reputed to be the hardest grader of all and the least sympathetic teacher in the school. Well, you can imagine what happened, the cat calls began: "Boo, Mr. Johnson, hiss, hiss, boo Mr. Johnson." The pain was evident on old Mr. Johnson's face. Suddenly Frank stood up in the middle of the bleachers and shouted, "Shut up! He's my father!"

The noise instantly died down, as the word was passed "Hey, cool it, Johnson's son's here." That afternoon when school was out, Frank raced home as fast as he could, and as he went through his front door, he was sobbing. His father met him: "Son, what's wrong?" Frank said: "Dad, I've got to talk to you. I told a big lie in school today."

"I guess you had better tell me about it, son." So Frank told the story. When he was through, his Dad put his arms around him and said: "It's all right, son. You didn't really tell a lie; you just got the family members mixed up. Mr. Johnson's not your father, he's your brother." (2)

That's what Jesus meant by "loving one another as [He has loved us]." Sometimes being a friend of Jesus simply means that we've been CHOSEN AND APPOINTED to be a brother or sister to a stranger.

CONCLUSION:

There's an old Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, Calvin's in bed at night but he's wide awake and he says: "I can't sleep. I think nighttime is dark so you can imagine your fears with less distraction. At nighttime, the world always seems so big and scary, and I always seem so small. I wish I could fall asleep, so it would be morning."

Then he turns to Hobbes, his imaginary tiger friend who is lying in bed next to him, and says: "Look at Hobbes. He's asleep. Heh, heh … He sure looks funny when he sleeps. Tigers close their eyes so tight. I wonder what he's dreaming about. Good ol' Hobbes. What a friend." Then Calvin cuddles closer to Hobbes and says: "Things are never quite as scary when you've got a best friend!" He closes his eyes and, in the last frame, he is asleep with a peaceful smile on his face.

Out of all the treasure of the world, out of all the possibilities of who and what could be chosen: God said: "I chooses you."

YOU AND I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN: CHOSEN TO LOVE, CHOSEN AS FRIENDS AND CHOSEN AND APPOINTED TO LIVE AS JESUS FRIEND IN AND TO THE WORLD.

We've been CHOSEN by God, and just like Calvin said: "Things are never quite as scary when you've got a best friend!"

Our best friend just happens to be Jesus, who CHOOSES US TO LIVE FOR HIM IN THE WORLD.

Sometimes who you choose as friends says a lot about your own reputation. Say "Yes!" to God's choice.

1. Adapted from and idea at: http://www.ministryandmedia.com

2. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), March 1984

3. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), August 1996

4.

www.SermonWriter.com (Copyright, Richard Niell Donovan, 2000)

www.SermonMall.com

www.deaconsil.com

www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermon.html (Richard Fairchild Lectionary Resources)

Homiletics, (Communications Resources, Inc., Canton, OH)

Lectionary Homiletics, (Lectionary Homiletics, Inc. Midlothian, VA)

Dynamic Preaching, (Seven Worlds Publishing, Knoxville, TN)

The Clergy Journal, (Logos Productions, Inc., Inver Grove Heights, MN)

Preaching Magazine (Preaching Resources, Jackson, TN)

Circuit Rider, (The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, TN)

The Interpreter's Bible, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1953)

The New Interpreter's Bible, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1995)

Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 2002) SermonPrep Version.

Preaching the Miracles, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 1998) SermonPrep Version.

Preaching the Parables, Cycle A, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 1997) SermonPrep Version.