Sermon of the Week - Paddy Ponders Friendship! Paddy Learns a Life Lesson at the Courthouse

By Pastor Jim Allen, Trinity Evangelical Church

The old Posey County Courthouse in Mount Vernon, Indiana, has seen a lot of things. Likely, more than a few tense debates, a stack of property deeds, and maybe a nervous groom or two waiting for the justice of the peace. But I’m betting this historic structure—firmly rooted in the bedrock of community—had never seen a Golden Doodle quite as captivated, or quite as existential, as Paddy was this past Tuesday.

The Inconvenience of County Business

Our mission was simple: file my Honorable Discharge, my DD214, in the County Clerk’s Office. It’s a necessary bureaucratic safeguard for all of us who once served in the military.

“Why do you do that, Dad?” Paddy asked, head cocked with the intense scrutiny usually reserved for a dropped crumb of bacon.

“Well, I’ve made it a habit in every county we’ve lived in,” I explained. “It’s about making sure that if something happens to me—you know, when I finally trade my worn-out pulpit shoes for a pair of cloud-walkers—Grandma Carol or my kids can easily find that DD214 for any veterans benefits. It’s the responsible thing to do, like putting oil in the tractor before the haying season and not after it’s seized up.”

Stepping into the County Clerk’s Office is truly stepping into the bustling heart of the community. And there, right in the thick of it, was the wonderful Ms. Kay Kilgore, the County Clerk herself.

“Hello, Pastor Jim!” she chirped with a smile that could easily melt the Wisconsin snowfalls of my youth. “And look who’s with you! Good boy, Paddy! Try not to leave any fur on the public records.”

Paddy looked up at me with that signature Doodle eye-roll. I leaned down for the inevitable whispered commentary.

“Doesn’t she know I’m a Doodle and we don’t shed?” Paddy asked, his voice a dramatic hush. “I’m hypoallergenic! It’s in the breed manual!”

“Miss Kay’s just teasing you, Paddy,” I laughed. “Besides, I find your fur on everything at home. You’re a delightful, fuzzy menace.”

We chatted a moment. Miss Kay was one of the very first people Carol and I met when we moved to Mount Vernon and registered to vote. Her kindness has been a steady beacon ever since.

“And Don!” Paddy chimed in, realizing he’d forgotten someone important. “You said Don! He’s always such a good friend and faithful member of the Church!”

“Yes, Paddy, Don was instrumental in bringing me to Trinity. He even shared his house with us when we first moved here.”

“The one that looks like a museum?”

“Yes, that’s the one, Paddy. But more than the house, Don is just one of those guys who can always be depended upon. Miss Kay and Don are both the real deal.”

The Price of Friendship: Time and Trouble

As we headed back out onto the courthouse sidewalk, Paddy’s paws stopped mid-prance, forcing me to stop a bit.

“Dad,” he asked, his voice a low, sincere rumble, “how do you know all those people? I mean, they all stopped their day, their important business, just for a quick word.”

I ruffled his golden curls. “Well, Paddy, Miss Kay and Don are my friends. That’s the answer.”

“A friend?” Paddy tilted his head, the universal sign of profound Doodle confusion. “What’s a friend, Dad? Does it taste like a jerky treat? Because if so, I’d like a dozen.”

“That,” I said, suppressing a chuckle, “is an excellent question! The great news Paddy is that the truth of friendship is spelled out for us in Scripture. The book of Proverbs tells us, ‘A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother’ (Proverbs 18:24). It’s that ‘sticking closer’ part that requires effort.”

“And the Bible also says that to have friends, one must show yourself friendly. (Proverbs 18:24). And you can spot those folks, can’t you? They’re usually caring, busy people who are willing to be bothered and, here’s the kicker, inconvenienced.”

Paddy’s tail gave a slow, thoughtful wag, like a fluffy pendulum measuring a heavy thought. “Inconvenienced? That sounds… like work. Can we avoid that?”

“It is buddy! That’s the metaphor. A true friend is someone who is willing to take a chunk of their day, maybe a piece of their peace, and be inconvenienced for you, and you for them, as life throws its inevitable curveballs. They don’t see their daily life just as a paycheck; they see it as a ministry—a way to serve. That’s why someone like Miss Kay is so involved with events like River Days—she’s willing to be inconvenienced for the community.”

“I love River Days, Dad!” Paddy barked, instantly forgetting his theological moment in favor of recreational opportunities. “As soon as I stop jumping all over people out of sheer excitement, you said I can go again!”

“That’s the deal, Doodle,” I laughed. “We’re still working on the ‘less jumping’ part. It’s called impulse control, and apparently, it applies to us humans as much as it does to excitable pups, especially when the barbeque fires strike up.”

Paddy’s “Pack” of Friendly Inconveniences

“So, do I have friends, Dad?” Paddy asked, looking up with genuine, soulful concern in his big brown eyes. “Am I a friend-haver? Do I qualify?”

“Paddy, you have a whole pack of them! Think about Chris, our neighbor. You love Chris; he takes you for walks. That’s a willing inconvenience—lugging around a rambunctious Doodle who probably thinks every squirrel is a personal affront, takes commitment!”

“Yes, and Chris even picks up my poop in St. John’s Park so Father Rutherford doesn’t get upset,” Paddy added with proud sincerity.

“That’s right, Paddy, and I would suggest that someone who is willing to pick up your poop… is a great friend! That is the very definition of being inconveniently helpful.”

“And what about Miss Mary, our church secretary? You race to her office every week day like it’s the finish line of a sheep-herding competition.”

Paddy’s ears perked up. “Miss Mary makes my day! She makes me sit and counts to five before I get a hug and a treat. Honestly, a hug is all I need, but I don’t want her to know that. It’s an effective system,” he whispered.

“Then there’s Mr. Bill, one of our Trustees; he always takes time for you. And Miss Trudy always takes a moment to play. Even Miss Linda, our Church custodian, always stops her work for a friendly word. Paddy, every one of your ‘friends’ is willing to have a portion of their day, their schedule, or their peace inconvenienced for you!

“Wow,” Paddy said, his tongue lolling. “I guess I never thought about it. How can I be inconvenienced for them, Dad? I don’t have hands to carry things!”

“Just by being yourself, buddy. You light up the room with your infectious smile. When people see how much you value them—how excited you are just to be near them—they feel valuable. That is the essence of friendship: when people understand that you value them, they see you as valuable to their lives. As the great Wesleyan Evangelical theologian, Ben Witherington, reminds us, friendship is about mutual, self-giving love. And John Maxwell put it simply: ‘Friendship is about loving people, not using them.’ Even old Adam Clarke reminds us that friendship, especially with Christian virtue in mind, is one of the greatest aids to holiness. Don Thorsen would call it a life-giving relationship.”

The Greatest Friend of All

And that, my Doodle, brings us to the greatest friend of all.

The Scriptures are filled with examples of this inconvenient love. Think of Job’s friends—before their misguided theological advice—who came to mourn and comfort him, sitting in silent solidarity for seven days (Job 2:11). Or the powerful bond between David and Jonathan, they were true buddies! (2 Samuel 1:26). A truly committed, inconvenient love that cost Jonathan his right to the throne.

But the most profound statement about friendship comes from Jesus Himself.

“Paddy, we are no longer just servants. Jesus looked at His disciples—and at us—and said, ‘No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you’ (John 15:15). Think of the humility in that, Paddy!

“And Jesus was inconvenienced for the whole world,” I continued, kneeling on the courthouse sidewalk to look him in the eye. “He was willing to be supremely and ultimately inconvenienced with His death upon the cross, laying down His life for His friends (John 15:13), so we could be made right with God. That’s a love that goes way past a five-second sit for a treat. He’s the ultimate ‘friend who sticks closer than a brother.’”

“Wow,” said Paddy, looking back at the courthouse, now less a place of paperwork and more a place of profound, inconvenient realization. “I never thought about it like that before. A friend is someone who is willing to be inconvenienced for you.”

“That’s right, Paddy. Now, let’s go home and be a friend to Grandma Carol, shall we? I think she needs someone to be inconvenienced by a wet nose and a little too much enthusiastic bouncing.”

For More Information: Pastor Jim encourages you to attend your Church of choice, but if you are looking for a Church home, please feel free to join us for the 10:10 a.m. Worship in the Trinity Evangelical Church Sanctuary. Pastor Jim and Paddy, the dog who wants even more friends will be excited to see you.