One of my favourite music albums is Eric Clapton Unplugged.
Good old Slowhand has a way of making his guitar sing while exploring some very relevant truths about the human condition. He hits the nail on the head when he sings “nobody knows you when you’re down and out.”
The song tells the story of a man who made it big, lost it all, and realized that the friends he thought he had, were only friends of convenience. They weren’t really there for him in his time of need, and thus the title of the song.
The theme and mystery of suffering is no stranger to the pages of Sacred Scripture, and likewise, in the Book of Job, we encounter Job’s friends abandoning him in his tribulation. To make matters worse, they even accuse Job of sinning, and his sins being the cause of his downfall. In spite of it all, Job would continue to trust God even when his friends didn’t believe he was innocent. He knew that God was his sure support and would vindicate him in the end. God certainly vindicates Job, but Job, like all the rest of us need a redemption that only God can give and has given in Christ Jesus.
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person…But He proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:6-8).
Mercy is getting precisely what we don’t deserve. Even more undeservingly, God calls us friends and invites us into friendship with Him (John 15:15).
“By his Revelation, ‘the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company.’ The adequate response to this invitation is faith” (CCC 142).
It is important for us to examine whether we are friends of the Lord and are living in his friendship. In fact, it is a matter of necessity.
Back to Eric Clapton, there’s a story of him purchasing a poster of Jimi Hendrix at a music shop before a concert with his band Blind Faith in the 1970s. After the concert a couple of fans came backstage and it turned out they were Christians. They asked if they could pray over him and he agreed, though he wasn’t a believer. At that point in his life, he was addicted to drugs and in a pretty low place.
After the prayer, which he described as being powerful, he wanted to show the two fans the unopened poster of Jimi Hendrix, and when he opened it up, it wasn’t a poster of Jimi, but one of Jesus Christ. This marked the beginning of a slow conversion for the rockstar with many ups and downs along the way (Roland, M. and Fitzpatrick, R. Gods of Rock. 73).
Jesus is a true friend and He seeks us out constantly. We must make a decision once and for all and continue making it every day of our lives.
“Jesus help me to be your faithful friend!”
