The importance of a friend (part 1)

I would like to talk to you about the importance of a friend. The importance of a friend. And if I were to ask a question, I am going to say it so that they start thinking because I am going to do an interview with them. If I were to ask you, what does a friend mean to you? What would you answer me? What does a friend mean to you, a friend, whatever it is? What is a friend to you? A brother.

What is a friend to you? Someone who can be trusted. What is a friend to you? That same. What is a friend to you? We're even. A friend, what is a friend? What is a friend? A person who opens up, who shares. What is a friend? Someone we love and who loves us. I'm finishing. What is a friend? A friend is someone we love and who loves us and who understands our situations. How nice that sounds, I couldn't have said it better.

There is a song that says, friend is the one who extends his hand, takes care of you and watches over you. Am I the only one who's heard that song or not? look, go with me to Juan, Chapter 15, because I am not taking this topic out of my sleeve, it is clear. John Chapter 15, verse 14. Enrique, in Mexico, what does a friend mean? Oh, a responsibility, that's good because it's so true. That is quite true. I liked that. A responsibility, good or bad? Good.

John, Chapter 15, verse 14, let us see if this verse hurts them the same as it hurt me.

"... Jesus says, you are my friends if you do what I command you..."

Tell me about a friendship with conditions, huh? because we say, yes, I give you a friendship unconditionally. But there are friendships that have conditions. You are my friends if you do what I command you, and verse 15 says:

“…I will no longer call you servants because the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends because I have made known to you all the things that I have heard from my Father…”

This is the text that I am going to use as the basis for what I understand will be two or three messages. There are two friends who are talking. I'm going to have to divide this into three parts, because it's not going to give me the time to be able to run everything I have here.

But look, based on the answers that you guys gave and other things that I have here in my head, and if I use, for example, Proverbs 17, look how it says Proverbs 17:17, it says:

“…A friend loves at all times and is like a brother in time of trouble. A friend loves at all times and is like a brother in times of distress…”

Look, today there are many people who are searching, living and yearning, and wanting to have genuine friendships. I am one of them. I don't think there's anything wrong with being able to say that. And the reason you're looking for that is because somehow or another there's a sense of loneliness within you. And it may be, we will have seen at some point, people who tend to isolate themselves, that you see that they are alone or alone on their own and like nobody looks at me. As it can also be a person who has many others around him and you see that he is a very social person and what do I know, but despite that, there is a sense of loneliness. You don't feel genuinely connected to another person.

And people are looking for that sense of friendship. There are many who want it eagerly, with desire. There are others who have been betrayed by what they thought was a genuine friendship. In other words, this is something that covers a multitude of things and I hope in these coming Wednesdays that I have the opportunity to cover this topic and touch on some of those points.

But look, I can say that this sense of friendship is ingrained in the very nature of God. Or rather, in the image of God in us. If we are created in the image of God, and we know that God is a triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three beings living in one, that there is a relationship, a dynamic between these three individuals who constantly speak and communicate with each other. they nurture and inform each other, and take action on each other. That same image that is in God, that same image is in us.

Therefore, in us there is a need to be able to be in connection with another person. Many of us find that intimate connection in a spouse, a husband, a wife. Many of us find that connection in our fathers, or mothers, or a brother, or a sister, a grandfather, a grandmother, an uncle, an aunt, or in a pastor, or we find it in a friend, in a friend that we have around us. there are some who find it in the dog, in the cat or in the parrot.

valme! But the point is that this need for connection, to be in relationship, for interdependence is something innate in us because it is part of God's nature in us. So wanting to have a friend, a friend is something that is going to come out of our pores in some way or another.

But hey, if I were to tell you, how can we define friendship? Can you believe me that I went to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy and I did not find a definition that made me, hmm, how good that sounds! I do not find. I had to do it.

So, I am going to give you a definition according to the dictionary of the Royal Academy of Omar Soto. Look at what I think is a friendship, let's see if it convinces you, let's see if I can sell you my dictionary. This is what I say:

"Friendship, or a friend, is a person who professes and lives an intimate affinity with another or with another, according to similar shared values, without exceeding the limits of what can be fair or honest in that relationship."

It's Wednesday, Omar, it's not Sunday, please. Let me see how I can…let me back off for a moment. I say it again.

Friendship, or a friend, is a person who professes and lives an intimate affinity with another or with another, according to similar shared values, without exceeding the limits of what can be fair or honest in that relationship.

First I say that it is something that is professed and lived. In other words, not only Maria am I telling you that I am your friend, but also in my life I show you that I am your friend. They follow me where I'm going

So, I say that I am a friend of a person and my actions value or give value to what I say I am. So it is professed, it is lived. When I talk about affinity, I'm talking about affinity based on shared values or interests that these people may have.

And here this can be a little tricky, because it could be that one person likes soccer and the other likes baseball, but what they may have in common is that they like sports, right? So, maybe there isn't something genuine that they share but in essence there is.

Finally, they are people who know their limits and respect them. In other words, you are not intruding on your personal stuff all the time but giving the other person their space as well.

So, how about that definition, does it convince you yes or no? OK. How do friendships arise? How does a friendship arise? Here I can say that this also depends, it depends on how a friendship can arise. Because it can be that a friendship takes a long time, as it can be that a friendship also starts there from the first meeting.

Look at a biblical example. Turn with me to First Samuel, Chapter 18, look at what happened here, in the first verse. If I tell you the story that is before, the story that is before is obviously when David defeated Goliath, he cut off his head and obviously they report him and bring him before King Saul and then in a conversation with King Saul. I want you to imagine this, in the palace, David arrives from the field there all dirty, and perhaps with blood splattered on his body, and he arrives with the head of Goliath, there in his hand. And then King Saul is sitting on his throne facing him, his advisors are next to him, and over there, in a little corner is his son Jonathan, watching everything that is happening. So in First Samuel, Chapter 18, verse 1 it says:

“… It happened that when he had finished speaking with Saul… ─he, being David ─… Jonathan's soul was linked with David's and Jonathan loved him as himself. And Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father's house and Jonathan and David made a pact because he loved him as himself and Jonathan took off the mantle that he was wearing and gave it to David and other clothes of his, even his sword, his bow and his belt…”

Check this out. This was a friendship that ran away from the first hit. It's like Jonathan gave himself completely, he identified with David. There was something that when they looked at each other face to face, it was like a direct connection with each other. Son, you are my strong panita, they spat on each other, put your hand there, not to mention that they took knives and cut their hand and a blood pact there forever.

But that was a friendship that came quickly. Do you know a friendship that took a long time to develop? Why don't they know what it is? That of Jesus with his disciples. Why Pastor Omar? Do you remember the verse we just read, John, Chapter 15? You know that it took the disciples 3 years to hear from Jesus that it came out of his mouth, that he could say to them, you are my friends. Because these words that Jesus was saying to his disciples, he was saying to them moments before he was arrested. So if you count the time that Jesus began his ministry before he chose his disciples, until he chose them and continued to develop a teacher-apprentice connection with them, and he got to that point, hours before he was arrested and there It was where he told them, you are my friends.

That friendship relationship took 3 years to develop. Many stories, many journeys, much tug and pull, much questioning, much learning, even one was told “get away from me, Satan. I don't know you."

It takes some relationships to grow. So it all depends. But the key that I can say for all friendship is time. It is the time, the time, look how I say, the intentional time that one dedicates to knowing and making oneself known. There are two parts here. the time that one intentionally dedicates to being able to get to know someone and make themselves known as well.

Ok, let me explain. If I were to talk about any of these features. I'll leave that for a moment. I go back to that part of being intentional. Look at some characteristics of friendship. I don't know how many of you have seen an email titled "Friendship is an art", once they sent me an email that said so. Haven't you read that email?

It is an email that basically says that friendship is an art, because what a friend wants to do is greet you, talk to you, listen to you, hug you, bother you, advise you and I can continue saying other things that have to do with art but not them. I'm going to say, I'm going to focus on those nothing else.

Therefore friendship is an art and art is something difficult, it is something that takes time. It is one thing to throw colors on a canvas and another thing to go in detail giving shape to that art. But at the same time that it is an art, I can say that friendship has different variants. There are the people who are the acquaintances, there are the people who are the friends, and there is the friend. Your strong hand, as they say. Your nail or your meat as you want to say.

Now, but I also say that one cannot be a 20 for everyone. So, to give you peace in your heart, even Jesus himself, I dare say that even Jesus himself had his concentric circles, his circles of friends, Jesus himself had those circles of friends, even within their own disciples. Do you know why? How many disciples were they? 12, right? You have to discount one of them, so, let's think there were 11. So, imagine that, one of those friends was already designated to betray him.

But within those 12, okay, Jesus shared with each one of them, but within those 12 there were 3 in particular with whom Jesus went away to pray with them 3. Who were those 3? John, Peter and James. There were those three. But of those 3 there was only one that Jesus allowed him to lie on his chest. No, it wasn't Peter. Juan.

So if you see, that is, if I see this example of Jesus, that Jesus, as they say, had his little group, so to speak, had his levels with whom he became intimate in one way or another, and it is very interesting if you see the four Gospels, you are going to see this dynamic that is repeated in different forms. But the point for which I say this, my brothers, is that you may have peace. In other words, there is another proverb that a man can have many friends, but a friend who is like a brother, there is only one. And there are times when one in that desire to be able to have friends, one wants to sell himself as if he were the best friend in the whole world, but at the same time he is not achieving anything. Because we want to cover a lot and we press little.

So again, you may want to be a friend, but not everyone is going to like you like a 20. Some you're going to be a 1, to others maybe a 10, for others, maybe a 50 bill or a 100 bill. So, I'm not going to say that you're going to be a penny for anyone, please, I'm not going to lower you to that level.

Now, I am finishing with this. Again, I'm going to have to give this a 'to be continued'. Obviously friendships are not easy to develop. What does Proverbs 27, verse 17 say? This is something we've heard a lot. Says:

“…Iron sharpens iron and likewise a man sharpens his friend…”

This sounds really nice, in English it sounds better: “Iron sharpens iron”. It sounds neat like that. But you know what? This process of one iron sharpening another is not easy at all. The process of making iron sharpen another piece of iron is a very hard process. And what's more, even some people may be on their teeth, so to speak. What's more, I dare you, do you remember that sound that someone makes when someone pulls their nails out of a metal window? It may be that just after I mentioned that and you remember that noise, you're already gritting your teeth. I used to do that mean thing when I was in school.

I am making myself known. But look at this, I remember that in my house, my dad had a machete sharpening stone. We had a tree in front of the house that we obviously pruned with a machete. Back then there weren't those trimmers that are used to trim trees now, so we used a machete. And when I learned to use that machine, obviously the stone comes in this direction, spinning, and one has to hold the machete in the opposite direction, so that it can take a sharp edge.

So, I remember that since my hands weren't that strong, every time I hit the stone with the machete, it went with the stone, because I couldn't stand it. And when I see that image, when I think about that image, I say to myself, wow, how interesting because when one iron is sharpening another, they are two super hard metals that are going in opposite directions, but nevertheless the mere fact of going in opposite directions, that's where you get the most out of it. I mean, that's where they sharpen. And that is where I see, my brothers, where the beauty of being able to have a friend lies.

And this is where I am going to summarize, at least this part to finish. That's where I see the beauty of having a friend. Because a friend is not necessarily the person who is going to be making you laugh at all times. A friend is the person who will also dare to confront you and tell you what you are doing wrong. Yes, a friend is the person who is going to throw your arm and cry with you, and advise you, but a real friend is the one who, if he sees you are with, as he says, he took you with your hands in the dough, will tell you, daddy, mommy, something needs to be checked here. is the person who dares to truly aim for who you really are. That's a real friend. Because it is the friend who is going to sit with you having a coffee, he is going to listen to you, he is going to seek to understand you. If he doesn't understand something you're saying, he's going to make an extra effort to, tell me more about this, because I really want to understand what you're processing, what you're experiencing, what you're feeling. There is that sense of empathy that I am going to take off my shoes to get into yours and even if they are uncomfortable, but I want to understand where you are.

And that, obviously, my brothers, I have to understand that not everyone can do it. Not everyone can do it. What's more, you can't do it with everyone. You are not designed to open like a book to tutti li mundi. No. Only with those people that you have found an affinity, that you can do like Jonathan, that you take off your cloak and give it to that person, take off your sword and give it to that person. It's like someone who says, you are completely disarming yourself, and pouring into that person what you are, what you have.

That is where a true friend is truly measured. Where we not only aim at the beautiful things, but also see those rough edges and look for how to sharpen ourselves. It is the friend who is going to tell you, look, this has to be fixed. And if one day you see something in me that I have to fix, please don't shut it up, tell me. I mean, I am saying it in the context of preaching, it is not that they are going to give me where I, Pastor Omar, am seeing this in you. Well. If it is inspired by God, I receive it.

But do you follow me where I go, my brothers? Look, there is a point that I want to get to with all this. Obviously I'm not going to do it today. But I want you to think about these words that I am sharing with you. You need a good friend, a good friend, and I know that in Jesus we have the best of all friends, but it is necessary to have that friend or friend that we can wrestle with, well, not wrestle with, but that we can go there at your convenience. you. That friend is needed. It is the friend that if you say at seven in the evening, look, I need to go eat pizza, do you want to go with me? Well, let's eat the pizza. Or if you have to have a coffee at 9 in the morning because you need to process something before going to work and you need to process something with someone and there is your friend, and you know that he can take the time to sit down with you, he does . Or that if you are in a moment of need and you need to know someone who is really going to pray for you, not necessarily that you tell them, look, so-and-so, pray for me. And he tells you, yes, yes, yes, don't worry, I'm going to keep you praying, but it's going to be a person who, when you call him, right there on the phone, he's going to tell you, let's pray right now .

You need to have those friends. We are living in a world where that sense of friendship, look how interesting, the ironies of the society in which we live. We live in a world where that sense of friendship is sought everywhere, yet it is misrepresented in the sense that no one trusts anyone. And obviously all this comes from a baggage of other things that I will say later.

But look, there is someone who is looking for a friend in you. You are looking for a friend in someone. God's purpose is not that no one be alone, and what is spoken of in Genesis does not only apply to a context of a man and woman couple. It also applies to our daily lives that no one is alone, but that we can know, like wow, I have someone I can count on, that if I need to talk to someone, look, yes, we can do it. The pastors, look, it may be that we pastors are a 20 bill for some, but it may be that someone, better than us, is a 50 bill or a 100 bill for his life. But all together we form a conglomerate that allows us to be part of a family.

And look, don't feel bad. If you want to have a very intimate friendship with a person, but that person does not respond to you. Fine. Find another person. There is nothing wrong with that. The worst that can happen is that you get frustrated because so-and-so doesn't like me. If so-and-so doesn't love you, find a zungana, she most certainly does love you, find melano, she most surely does love you. That is the best thing that God did, he created an entire humanity.

But, look, I'm going to leave it here. I just want to make you think, to reflect on that idea. Jesus calls us friends, that is the other part that I am going to read, and what about God, what about God. How is he our friend and how are we friends with him? So it will continue.

Father, I thank you for this night that we have been able to share with my brothers and sisters. Lord, tonight I ask that as they prepare to leave here today, that you take them with good, that you take them with your direction and that in their rest of the night, that you meet with them , that you speak in his dreams, Lord, and that his spirit, his soul may be receptive to what you have to say, and that tomorrow if you allow it, grant us the strength, wisdom and energy to be able to achieve do what tomorrow and what we may not be able to finish today.

So, Lord, everything is in your hands. I bless your sons and daughters. Take us safely to our homes, we ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen. Thank my Lord. Blessings brothers.