Jesus Lord,
perhaps it would have been simpler to be servants…
servants have set hours, they have ‘limited responsibility’
whether they are useful or not is up to their employer.
But you did not call us servants
you dared to call us your friends
and that changed everything.
A friend is a full-time job.
We share our wildest hopes with our friends,
our deepest sorrows, our doubts, and our plans.
Friendship has nothing to do with usefulness.
Friendship can only exist freely.
It is a pure gift.
And that is why we come to praise you tonight,
freely, for the joy of a friend’s presence to a friend…
Blessed be you, Jesus, for daring to do this crazy thing: taking us as your friends…