13 Sermon Illustrations on Friendship

One morning in spring, two youths were walking arm in arm in a wood. "Let us try," said the one to the other, "to find the image of our friendship; for man loves to find the picture of his own life in nature."—"Behold the ivy clinging to the young oak! The tree grows in youthful beauty and vigor, like the column of a temple which youths and virgins have adorned with the first foliage of spring. The tender ivy clings to the oak, as if it strove to become one with the tree; but for the oak, it would creep in the dust." Krummacher.

He that is absent will not be the heir.—Latin.—The dead and the absent have no friends.—Spanish.—The absent are always in the wrong.—French.—Friends agree best at a distance.—English.—Love your neighbor, but do not pull down the hedge. Let the guest go before the storm bursts.—German.—Better be unmannerly than troublesome. Too much familiarity breeds contempt.—English.—He that quits his place loses it. French.

The rhinoceros is frequently accompanied by a bird, which, at the approach of danger, gives a shrill cry of warning. The rhinoceros can only see what is immediately before him, and may be approached from the leeward within a few paces. The bird sees better, and is his sentinel and friend; often saving him from death. A bird similarly defends the African buffalo. The bird hops on the ground beside the beast, or rides upon his back; but his flight is the signal of alarm. The little monkeys of the tropics form similar friendship with larger animals. A lion and a dog, and a tigress and a dog, have been fast friends.

Damon was sentenced to die on a certain day, and sought permission of Dionysius of Syracuse to visit his family in the interim. It was granted, on condition of securing a hostage for himself. Pythias heard of it, and volunteered to stand in his friend's place. The king visited him in prison, and conversed with him about the motive of his conduct; affirming his disbelief in the influence of friendship. Pythias expressed his wish to die that his friend's honor might be vindicated. He prayed the gods to delay the return of Damon till after his own execution in his stead. The fatal day arrived. Dionysius sat on a moving throne, drawn by six white horses. Pythias mounted the scaffold, and calmly addressed the spectators: "My prayer is heard: the gods are propitious; for the winds have been contrary till yesterday. Damon could not come; he could not conquer impossibilities; he will be here tomorrow, and the blood which is shed to-day shall have ransomed the life of my friend. Oh! could I erase from your bosoms every mean suspicion of the honor of Damon, I should go to my death as I would to my bridal. My friend will be found noble, his truth unimpeachable; he will speedily prove it; he is now on his way, accusing himself, the adverse elements, and the gods: but I hasten to prevent his speed. Executioner, do your office." As he closed, a voice in the distance cried, "Stop the execution!" which was repeated by the whole assembly. A man rode up at full speed, mounted the scaffold, and embraced Pythias, crying, "You are safe, my beloved friend! I now have nothing but death to suffer, and am delivered from reproaches for having endangered a life so much dearer than my own." Damon replied, "Fatal haste, cruel impatience! What envious powers have wrought impossibilities in your favor? But I will not be wholly disappointed. Since I cannot die to save, I will not survive you." The king heard, and was moved to tears. Ascending the scaffold, he cried, "Live, live, ye incomparable pair! Ye have borne unquestionable testimony to the existence of virtue; and that virtue equally evinces the existence of a God to reward it. Live happy, live renowned, and oh! form me by your precepts, as ye have invited me by your example, to be worthy of the participation of so sacred a friendship." If heathenism had such friendships, what may be expected of Christianity?

FRIENDS, Distrust of "Friends!" said Socrates, "there is no friend." Another says, A friend is a changeable creature, like the colors of the peacock. Many friends are not more fickle than false; like deep ponds, clear at the top, and muddy at the bottom. Try before you trust, and, when you have tried, trust not over far, lest you cry out as Queen Elizabeth, "In trust, I have found treason;" or as Julius Caesar, when stabbed by Brutus, "What! thou, Brutus!" He received twenty-three wounds, mostly at the hands of those whose lives he had spared. Buck.

Some years ago, a traveller, passing through Clermont, wished to see the country house in which the celebrated Massillon used to spend the greater part of the year, and therefore applied to an old vicar, who, since the death of the bishop, had never entered the house. He consented, however, to gratify the traveller, notwithstanding the profound grief he expected to suffer from revisiting a place dear to his remembrance. They accordingly set out together, and the vicar pointed out to the stranger the different places of importance. "There," said he, with tears in his eyes, "is the alley in which the excellent prelate used to walk with us; there is the arbor in which he used to sit and read; this is the garden he took pleasure in cultivating with his own hands." Then they entered the house, and when they came to the room where Massillon died, "This," said the vicar, "is the place where we lost him;" and as he pronounced these words his affectionate feelings overcame him, and he fainted away.