Last November I had one of the most fun evenings of my life. I got to have dinner with Don Postema, and we sat talking in the restaurant for two hours.

Some of you will know of Dr. Postema. He wrote Space for God, a popular book that was used for an adult class here about ten years ago. He also wrote a book on sabbath keeping. Last fall I was doing some writing on the sabbath, I heard he was going to be in town, and I asked if I could see him.

At our dinner together, I asked him questions about the sabbath, and after we had exhausted that topic, we just chatted about a wide variety of interesting ideas. At one point, he said,

“I’ve been wondering why God doesn’t have any adult friends.”

I said, “What do you mean?”

He responded, “There are three major pictures in the Bible to help us understand our relationship with God. One is servant-master. God is the master, we are the servants. The second is parent-child. God cares for us like a father or mother. And the third picture is a relationship between friends. A lot of Christians are most comfortable thinking of themselves as servants or as children, but not as friends.

“And the problem here has to do with intimacy and maturity. A servant-master relationship has no intimacy, and the servant is not expected to be mature. A parent-child relationship has intimacy, which is good, but the child is not expected to be mature either. In a friendship relationship with God, we can experience intimacy and we are expected to be mature, to be partners with God in ministry. I wonder why people don’t feel as comfortable with that form of relationship.”

We talked about that question. There’s a sort of risk involved in viewing ourselves as friends and partners with God, and we wondered if perhaps people feel safer considering themselves children or servants.

Our passage today lays a foundation for our understanding of Jesus as our brother and friend. It happens in a kind of inadvertent way. The main topic of most of chapter one and all of chapter two has to do with angels.

• Who are angels and what do they do?
• Where does the Son of God fit in relation to angels?

And in our section today, the writer is addressing the question of whether God cares more about angels or about humans.
God cares so much about humans, our passage says, that Jesus became human in order to bring about atonement for humans’ sins. In becoming human, he took on human nature and became like us. We see in the first and last verses of our passage that Jesus suffered as we do, therefore he is able to help people when they are tempted or are suffering.

Verse 11 says that the one who sanctifies, Jesus, and those who are sanctified, us, have the same father. Other translations say we have the same origin. We’re made of the same kind of flesh; in fact, Jesus is like us in every respect, so Jesus understands what we are going through. In fact, because we share so much with Jesus, he calls us his brothers and sisters.

This understanding of Jesus as our brother is the foundation for our understanding of Jesus as our friend. In John 15, Jesus says that he doesn’t call us servants any longer but now calls us friends. He has revealed to us everything he learned from his Father in heaven, and thus he is looking for a kind of obedience based on knowledge and understanding, an obedience that comes from friendship, not just from being servants.

What does this look like in practice?

Last weekend I was in Idaho at the Monastery of St. Gertrude with 15 other Bethany folks. We had a great time! Over the course of the weekend, I got around to most of the Bethany people and asked them what it means to them that God is their friend.

Several people said it means they can tell God anything, whatever is on their hearts. One woman said that she can tell God she’s angry even when she doesn’t know why she’s angry. Another person said friendship with God means telling God everything, but also being willing to listen to God in a true conversation.

Several people talked about not ever being alone, having companionship in scary places, in alone places. All of these fit nicely with the verses we read in Hebrews 2.

In recent months I’ve experienced God’s friendship in some significant ways as I have prepared to leave Bethany. Many of you know that I will be leaving Bethany as a pastor in August. In September I will be starting a Ph.D. program at the University of Washington.

In the fall I first began to sense that it might be time for me to leave Bethany. It was as if the Master, God, was saying to me, his servant, the time is coming. I responded to God in friend mode, bringing to him all my fears about this idea.

“I'm not ready to leave! I’ve been here so long -- seven years as a pastor and eight years before that as a member -- and this is my community. I’m knitted in here. It will hurt too much to leave. I’ll be lonely and feel alone! Oh, please, not yet.”

It was as if God said back to me,

“There are answers to these objections. Would you like to hear them?”

“No, not yet. I just need to vent for a while.”

God seemed to think that was fine. Gradually, though, I found myself listening. I heard God remind me that he is the God of new things, of fresh starts. “Behold I am doing a new thing,” Isaiah says. I heard God tell me he will meet me in any loneliness I might experience. Jesus says, “I am with you always.” I heard God remind me through the Apostle Paul that God works good in everything, even hard situations.

I came to the place where I could say to God, “Okay, I’ll trust you. I’ll trust that you’ll let me know when the time is right to leave, and I’ll trust that you will guide me into good places. I lay down my objections. I want to be your willing servant, your obedient child.”

A little while later another aspect of friendship with God came into play. In February I read an article in a magazine saying that seminaries are experiencing a shortage of people to teach practical ministry classes, such as classes in leadership, adult Christian education, pastoral care. As I read the article, I found myself saying to God,

“This sounds exactly like what I’d like to do. Is this what you have in mind for me?”

To teach in a seminary, I would need a doctoral degree, so I started looking into programs in Seattle. Three programs seemed like good options, so I wrote emails to the people I know who are attached to seminaries, asking their advice. Most of them said any of the degrees would be fine. As I kept reading the web sites and as I prepared to apply to these programs, I began to notice that the communication Ph.D. at the University of Washington really pulled on my heart and my desires. So I began to ask God,

“Could that be where you want me? I’d love to go there.”

This phase of leaving Bethany was a real partnership with God, where I looked into possibilities and then brought my ideas to him. I realized I was being the kind of friend to God that Don Postema talked about -- a mature friend with ideas of my own, yet still willing to submit to God as my Master and my Father. It was exhilarating and encouraging to use my mind and my heart, and to bring my whole self to God as my friend and brother.

It felt risky to think about what I am really drawn to do and bring those desires to God. I can see that it’s easier to expect God’s guidance without engaging our minds and hearts to identify what is really in them. It took discipline to research options. I can see it feels easier to wait for God’s supernatural guidance, without the work of figuring out all the pros and cons of all the options.

I am quite sure that we are called to honor God as a servant who belongs to a loving master. We humans definitely need to learn submission and obedience. We are also called to rest in God’s care, just as if we are a child in someone’s arms. These are good, strong biblical models of our calling as Christians.

But don’t forget Jesus is our brother and friend, desiring us as partners with him in ministry, inviting us to share all of our lives with him.

Let me give you one more picture of Jesus as my brother and friend. This incident happened last October, when I was in London visiting our son, Mike, who is a graduate student there. One afternoon I was walking around on my own, in a very posh neighborhood. I was looking up at the beautiful architecture when I became aware that some people were approaching me on the sidewalk.

There were two women and a man. I glanced at them and thought,

“That man looks just like Sean Connery.”

As they passed me, I could hear the man talking in a Scottish accent, and I thought,

“That man sounds just like Sean Connery.”

As they passed me, I turned around and watched them walk away. Then I started laughing softly. It seemed so funny that I had seen Sean Connery’s face for about two seconds, but I stared at the back of his head for a couple minutes as he walked away from me. As I laughed, I could feel someone else laughing with me, sharing my delight and joy.

I was not alone in my laughter. My brother, my friend, was sharing it with me. That brother, that friend invites us to share everything with him. He invites us to be a partner with him, a mature friend who engages our minds and our hearts as we seek his will. And he laughs with us.

Let’s pray together.

Lord, we rejoice that you have called us into relationship with you. And we acknowledge that all our small ways of describing our relationship can never capture the whole truth. You are the maker of the universe, the great and powerful God. Help us to be faithful to you, as servants, as children, and as your friend. Amen.