This morning Dave spoke on the subject of friendship, particularly looking at David and Jonathan as an example of friendship in God (1 Sam 17:57-18:4). Nowadays, social media can tell us we have many friends, but the reality is we can be very lonely too.

Saul is an example of someone who started really well but whose life ended in tragedy as he left God’s ways and was consumed by jealousy. Jonathan, his son, could also have been jealous of David’s anointing by Samuel and rise to popularity, but instead, he seems to have recognised a kindred spirit in David and respected God’s anointing on his life. He made a covenant with David and shows us that one of the key aspects to friendship is giving. Jesus, the ultimate friend, lay down His life for us; Jonathan gave freely to David. He cared more for David than for his own reputation and protected him when his father tried to kill David. He was heartbroken at his father’s actions, but wanted the best for his friend at all times.

Jonathan proved himself a true friend in need; as the proverb goes, ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed.’ Jesus is the greatest friend we could ever hope to have. He is there for us at all times, sticking closer than a brother, no matter what. Even if we don’t have friends like Jonathan, we have a friend beyond all others in Jesus.

Matt 6:25-27 reminds us of the pointlessness of worry. Even children can worry at times, but the story we heard tonight (Bob The Bird) reminds us that we all have a heavenly Father who loves us and looks after us, and therefore there is no need to worry. Bob the bird reflected on how people can worry about all kinds of situations (the farmer worrying about the weather and what would happen if his crop failed, the butcher worrying about the profitability of his business, the woman worrying about her pile of money and if thieves would steal from her.) It’s very easy to let our imaginations run away with us and leave us fearful and anxious, but this simple story reminded us that it’s not just birds who have a heavenly Father to care for them!

Life is a partnership with God and we need to learn to trust Him, no matter what our age. God is there to help, guide and protect us.

In Rev 22:6 and in Rev 21:5 we are told that God’s words are ‘trustworthy and true.’ It can be hard for us to trust God’s words. We are used to hearing lies on a daily basis: the lies of politicians, the lies of well-meaning people who nevertheless do not follow God’s ways, the lies of our own hearts and the lies of the enemy (whom Jesus described as a thief, liar and murderer, lies being his native language.) We don’t always even realise that lies are being fed to us; lies can seem so plausible, rational and reasonable, and without the yardstick of God’s truth, we can easily believe lies and not even recognise them as falsehood.

What God says, on the other hand, upsets our natural way of thinking. The gospel message of unearned favour, outrageous grace, radical forgiveness and unconditional love, not to mention God’s absolute purity and holiness, upsets our sensibilities and becomes the stone which makes us stumble (see Rom 9:33, 1 Pet 2:8). No wonder that John is reminded twice that God’s words are trustworthy and true. Even when they seem fantastical or hard to understand, we can build our lives upon these words (Matt 7:24-27) and can, therefore, have confidence and hope when life is difficult and bewildering. We can build our lives upon God’s words and remain strong even in the storms of life.

Grace is a word which runs throughout the Bible and is a theme which probably best sums up the whole good news of Jesus Christ. It’s not a word that’s used much in general: we may speak about a graceful dancer or saying grace before a meal or talk about gratitude (with its etymological roots in grace), but overall, the world doesn’t focus much on grace. It’s more concerned with earning our way to good fortune, with a quid pro quo mentality and with what you deserve. Grace is all about undeserved favour and therefore can’t really be understood if we are looking through the viewfinder of meritocracy.

Grace is a unifying theme in the Bible, which tells the story of God’s love and favour to people who, frankly, don’t deserve such things. God created a perfect world with few limitations, but Adam and Eve chose to disobey and wanted to be like God, knowing good and evil. As a result, that perfect world was broken, and we have lived with the consequences of sin ever since. But God, because of His great love for us, shows mercy and grace and made a way for us to come back to Him through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. The New Testament abounds with references to grace; most of Paul’s letters start with phrases such as ‘Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Rom 1:7, see also Eph 1:2, 1 Cor 1:3, Phil 1:2, 1 Thess 1:1).

It’s significant, therefore, that the last word in the Bible goes to grace. Revelation 22 ends with the words, ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.’ (Rev 22:21) Grace is there at the start of our relationship with God: ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.’ (Eph 2:8-9) It’s there every day of our lives to sustain us, given freely by a generous God. (Eph 4:7) Here, in the last book of the Bible, grace is only mentioned twice: at the very beginning (Rev 1:4) and then here at the very end. Grace is like bookends, keeping us safe and at peace with God. The only real way to understand God and life itself is to see it through grace. Grace, God’s wonderful gift to us, will be with God’s people forever, even into the new heaven and new earth, even as we taste of the free gift of the water of life. (Rev 22:17) What a glorious hope we have!