The First Day of School

“When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” Luke 6:13-16

Today is the first day of school. This is a day that brings with it different feelings for different students. Those feelings vary with age, maturity, grade level, and academic situation. I remember the thrill of my first day of High School, looking forward to meeting new friends- and after a summer of updating my wardrobe, upgrading my hair style to something I considered more fashionable, and putting aside my glasses in favor of blindness – I was ready. I don’t think I cared very much about the classroom lessons that would come my way. I certainly had hopes each year of doing well in school, but I will freely admit that finding myself ranked among “the cool” was always a goal with each September.

As I got older this experience would change, but in many ways stayed the same. In Seminary with each new assignment came an opportunity to meet new people, and build a support system that was stronger than the year before. I remember the first night of my last assignment in Omaha, Nebraska. The Director of the Program had scheduled a welcome reception for all the seminarians a local bar/grill. The evening was open bar, courtesy of the program’s budget, and around 10:30 the Rector walked by the bar to inform the group of us who were sitting there that he was about to close the tab. We were welcome to stay, but we were on our own. When last call rolled around, the four of us were still sitting there, now facing a tab of our own, two very full ashtrays, and thanks to the haze the alcohol had provided over our judgment we had no doubt shared about ourselves far more then we needed to. I remember clearly one of the Seminarians turning and saying; “Well I know who I’m gonna hang out with this Semester – we are clearly the only ones who can hang.”

Even as adults our social circles are a key part of our daily life experience. We try to socialize with people who we can relate to, who understand us, and who are in some way in the same boat. The old saying “misery loves company” often comes into play.

Jesus knew the importance of friendship, as so early on in His ministry, He selected from among the many who were following Him with curiosity, 12 men who would be by His side over the next 3 years. Instead of building bonds over drinks and cigarettes, He would build bonds with these men by sharing with them the gift of Salvation. They would travel together, lodge together, eat together, cry and laugh together. Although Jesus is God, He was fully human in His earthly existence and knew the ups and downs that come along with friendship. No doubt His awareness of these feelings is why the Evangelist chose to set Judas aside in the description of the band of 12 men as being the one “who became a traitor”.

As I look back over the history of my own life I certainly see many friends who lasted for various lengths of time. We all can do that. We all have the friends like Judas, who would turn out to not be the most faithful…however also like Judas, their betrayal would turn out to be the catalyst for something greater. We have those few friends that have stayed by our side through thick and thin, like John, who found himself to be the only friend still standing at the foot of the Cross. Of course in our human experience we have those friends like Peter and the other Apostles, who despite claiming all the faith and fidelity in the world fail so often, yet after every fall brush themselves off, and continue to walk down the road of life’s journey right by our side.

In the last year or two I have come to learn a lot about friendship. Priorities in life change along the way, and sometimes friends can’t understand that. Like my experience in Omaha, I think we all find ourselves waiting to see who is going to be “able to hang”, who’s still going to be there at the many “last calls” that life brings our way. As we get older we change our definition of the word friend. We come to realize that what defines someone as a friend isn’t the one who pays the tab at the end of the night. It’s not a relationship that is defined by something like Facebook, which can be terminated with something as simple as the click of a mouse.

The Apostles didn’t always understand Jesus, they didn’t always agree with Him, and they certainly had their share of quarrels among them; but in the end they provided a definition of friendship that would stand the test of time. On Good Friday as Jesus was arrested and crucified, all but one ran and turned their back on Jesus when He needed them most. As Jesus hung on the cross and looked down so that He could commend the mother He was leaving behind to the care of one of His friends, all he found was John.

The happy life they had shared traveling, and talking about God and His love for them had come to an end. In what seemed like a moment, things changed, and all of a sudden it wasn't easy being friends with Jesus. The rubber had hit the road, and for this band of friends turning and running was the chosen course of action in response to all the false testimony, drama, and possible pain. The real betrayal of Judas is that when he realized the results of his betrayal, he took his own life, in an act of selfishness that was based on the thought that Jesus would never forgive him for what he’d done. The others realized they demonstrated a lack of faith in their friend, and so they would go on to give their lives for Him, and His Gospel.

The story of Jesus and his Apostles shows us that love and friendship is about giving, not taking. It proves that we all drop the ball as friends, but if it’s real it’s never to late to fix it. That’s how real friendship is defined and demonstrated; with generosity- generosity in love, giving, and forgiving. The depth of these things can never be expressed gathered at a bar, or on a Facebook wall, and history may not always record them rightly, but an accurate testimony is kept forever engraved on our hearts.