Midweek Musing- 6/26/2024

Friends are meant to be an important part of our lives. Yet research is increasingly saying that making and building friendships is increasingly difficult for people. In this case I am talking about research for adult friendships.   There is other research about the difficulties both children and adolescents are having with friendships.

In surveys with groups of adults across ages, genders, social classes and ethnicities regarding their friendships, what most people describe as friendship and friends are actually colleagues, business relationships, or casual acquaintances (like your local Starbucks barista.)

The truth is the large numbers of “friends” folks claim on Facebook is in most cases inaccurate.

The truth is more and more people struggle to have intimately close, faithful friends. Thus, when folks do have them, they should truly appreciate them. Because having friends who are steadfast, loyal, and on whom we can depend is a gift.

Part of what many folks say keeps them leery of making close friends is the fact that many of us have experienced the hurt that comes from friends who are unfaithful.

I'll never forget how a college "friend" betrayed my trust in a major way. We had been close since I arrived at college; we often spent late nights talking together and making Waffle House food runs. However, I once confided a deeply personal secret to him, which he couldn't resist gossiping about to others while sharing his unflattering opinion. The hurt and embarrassment I felt was immense.

Thankfully, I had several other folks who stuck by me through that difficult period. No matter how upset or even angry I was, these folks never judged me and were simply there to listen and support me. Their kindness and loyalty meant the world to me.

Now I know that my story is not an unusual one. It is an unfortunate reality that many of us have been subject to the anguish and heartache that inevitably accompanies the unfaithfulness of those we called friends. Even members of our family may prove unfaithful.

In these moments it is reassuring to know there is one who is always faithful and will never leave us.

Scripture declares "Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations," (Deuteronomy 7:9).

We also find these words in 2 Timothy 2:13 “(even) if we are faithless, he will remain faithful for he cannot disown himself.”

Paul in this unusually worded statement is reminding Timothy that because of who God is and because of God’s very nature, our Creator will never be unfaithful. As Paul said elsewhere in his epistles God is with us in both life and even in death.

Paul reminds us that God’s faithfulness never changes or wavers. God never fails. God never goes back on God’s promises. God, being who God is, cannot cease to be what God’s nature is. God does not act out of character. God is faithful because God is love and love never gives up or fails.

The Presbyterian Church’s Brief Statement of Faith says it this way –

Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child and a father who runs to welcome the Prodigal home, God is faithful still.

At times we may forget or doubt God’s faithfulness to us because there are times when life is hard and painful and disappoints. Our circumstances can weigh us down, making it hard to go on. And when those hard times come with their trials and tribulations, it may seem as if God has forgotten or even abandoned us. But through the life of Jesus, we have a tangible witness to the promise that our loving God is with us always and in all ways.

The Good News we discover in the biblical narrative is that God is faithful and we can live with the assurance that we are never alone and we can always depend on our Creator. Friends, God will never let us down and promises to love us simply because we are, as the parable of the universe’s formation says, that part of creation God calls very good.

Thanks be for the love and faithfulness of God our creator and friend. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Alleluia Amen.