“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” is one of my favorite Christian hymns.
Here is its first stanza:
What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.
The song holds a special place in Christian worship for its comforting lyrics during times of sorrow. The story of its author, Joseph Scriven, is less well-known.
Scriven was born to a wealthy, devout family in Northern Seapatrick, Ireland in 1819. He completed his education at Trinity College in Dublin.
His life took a tragic turn in 1844 when on the day before their planned marriage, his fiancée was thrown from a horse and drowned in the River Bann.
Overwhelmed by grief, Scriven left Ireland for Canada in 1845, settling in Port Hope, Ontario. There he fell in love with another young woman, but she died of pneumonia before they could be married.
Though having to endure a second tragic loss, Scriven dedicated himself to working in Port Hope among the impoverished widows and sick people there. He often served for no wages and even shared his clothes with those less fortunate than himself.
On an occasion when he was ill, a friend discovered a poem near his bed and asked who had written it. Scriven said, “The Lord and I did it between us.” He thought the poem would perhaps bring some spiritual comfort to his mother in Ireland.
Scriven had not intended that anyone else should see it, but his friend convinced him to have it published and it has become one of the most familiar and beloved of all Christian hymns.
Jesus is your friend. Jesus won’t let you down when you need Him most. As a friend, Jesus won’t reveal your secrets or make fun of you.
Faith is a close and trusting friendship with God. All day long, God loves, supports and helps us. We can tell God all our troubles and joys.
We can go through our day together with God and He will be with us for the rest of our lives. That’s friendship. That’s faith.
Sometimes we are tempted to betray our friendship with God by neglecting our prayers, not reading the Scriptures or hurting someone’s feelings.
But we are not the first to betray God and we won’t be the last.
Since the beginning of creation, Christians have been tempted to betray their relationship with God in big and small ways.
We grow stronger every time we overcome the temptation to betray our friendship with God.
In the first 300 years of Christianity, the followers of Jesus were under pressure to betray their friendship with Jesus.
In the Roman Empire, it was against the law to be a Christian. Those who were friends with Jesus were punished.
Everyone in the Roman Empire, no matter what their religion, was supposed to honor the emperor as a god.
Once a year, everyone was required to burn incense in front of a statue of the emperor and say “Caesar is god.” They could then go home and attend to their business for another year.
Refusal to do so was punishable by death.
The followers of Jesus refused to do this.
They knew that there was only one God and that to burn incense in front of Caesar’s statue and call him a god was a betrayal of their friendship with the true God.
Their refusal to honor Caesar in this way got them into trouble – big trouble.
They were jailed in dungeons. They were sent to exile in desolate islands where they were forced to perform hard labor.
And worst of all, if they wouldn’t deny their friendship with Jesus, they were put to death.
The leaders of the Roman empire did this because they wanted to discourage others from following Christ.
Executions of Christians were done in public in big arenas. They became an entertainment for the people of the Roman Empire in the same way football or baseball or basketball entertain the American people.
Many stories of Christians who died for their faith have come down to us over the centuries.
These people were called martyrs. The word “martyr” means “witness” and they were witnessing their belief in Jesus through their deaths.
They endured the most terrible pain. But they died with peaceful hearts, sometimes even singing hymns as they were burned or dragged by animals in front of the cheering crowds.
Their friendship with God was very deep.
During the past 2,000 years, many Christians have decided to die rather than betray their friendship with Jesus.
Even today, Christians suffer martyrdom in some nations.
Martyrs may speak different languages or wear different clothes, but they all have something in common: they are best friends with Jesus.
They cannot imagine turning their backs on Him even when it means suffering or death.
When we are tempted to betray our friendship with God, let us remember the martyrs of early Christianity and today.
Had they chosen to deny their faith, we would not have known Jesus.
Now it is our turn to do what the early Christians did – develop a deep friendship with Jesus.