The Joy of Friendship and Fellowship

Norma Jean and I enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day weekend with dear friends in Columbia, TN.  We worked together with these good people in the Kingdom for 11 years.  We worshiped together.  Laughed together. Cried together.  Rejoiced together. Ate together. Made memories together.  And now we had an opportunity to spend a little time together on the way to a new and exciting chapter in our lives.

I wish I could name each person who is part of the Jackson Heights church family and has impacted our lives for good.  But it would exceed the word limit of this post by a hundred times!  Plus, I would probably leave someone out.  And as the Hebrew writer said, the “time would fail me.”  But you all know who you are!

As I reflect on the weekend, it was filled with a family get-together.   A Memorial Day cookout.  Breakfast at a Cracker Barrel.  Lunch at the local Mexican restaurant.  A return to the locally famous Legends restaurant. A nursing home visit.  The joy of holding a newborn baby and seeing the smiles of a contented mother and a proud father.  Spending a little time with a former preaching intern who’s acquitted himself so well and is serving and growing in the Lord. Being with Shepherds again, who really do smell like sheep. And feel their care, compassion, and kindness.  And a wonderful dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s, where Kenny worked 20 years ago.  But most importantly, the emotional return to the pulpit at Jackson Heights. Certain thoughts and emotions kept surfacing.

It’s all about the people!  Where you eat?  Where  you live? The house you have. The car you drive.  All of that is really secondary to the relationships we develop over the years.  The affection of our friendship.  The warmth of our fellowship.  The fondness and affinity we feel for each other are special.  And it is in the Lord.  God loves people.  And so should we.  We miss out when church becomes sterile. Just another meeting to attend.  One more thing on our “to-do” list.  An obligation that becomes a burden.  NO!  It’s all about the people!  Don’t miss out on the relationships.

You really can be friends forever!  It’s so neat to just pick up where you left off with people you haven’t seen in several years.  It’s a special blessing.  And I think it is uniquely accentuated when the bond is spiritual.  When it is rooted in the fidelity and commonality of our faith.  What a wonderful blessing it is to call people and say, “Are you going to be home?  We want to come spend the weekend at your home!’  And they say, “Come on!”  For people to drop what they are doing and share a bit of their time.

It’s important to invest time in building good memories.  Too much time was wasted today on trivial matters. Too much energy is squandered on real or perceived slights and hurts.  Too much work is expended on the carnal.  The material.  The physical.  Things will one day be burned up.  But what will last is you!  And me!  We will go together into eternity.  So what a wonderful thing it is to focus on good and godly things and build precious memories.  I’m sure glad we can return to Columbia and enjoy the relationships we’ve built, swap stories from the past, and just share some good times.

I wish the same blessing for each of you.  Invest time, effort, and energy in those enduring relationships that will yield spiritual dividends both in time and in eternity.  As we leave Columbia and head to Kansas City to make new friends and build new memories, I join with the apostle who said, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.”

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman