The Friendship of God

"Our Lord, the Word of God, first of all gathered servants for God but later on he made them free men, as he said to the disciples: No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. If you set about loving God, his friendship will bring you immortality."

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Those who are in the light, do not themselves cause the light but rather they are lit up by it. They do not help the light but they are helped and illumined by it.

Similarily, our service to God does not mean that we provide him with anything for he does not need our submission to him. He gives life beyond death and eternal glory to those who follow and serve him."

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This is man's glory -- to remain steadfast in the service of God. Therefore the Lord said to his disciples: You did not choose me, but I chose you. He implied that they did not give him glory by following him but that, because they did follow the Son of God, the disciples were themselves glorified by him. In another place he says: I wish that, where I am, they also may be so that they may see my glory."

-- St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, from his 'Against the Heresies,' bk 4, 13, 4-14, I