A True Friend

“I’m sure glad I’m not Leo!”
Rob could tell it was going to be a rough day for Leo. The second their teacher turned her back, the boy sitting behind Leo had reached down and grabbed Leo’s books. Rob helped pass the books to the back of the room where they were hidden in the wastebasket under the pencil sharpener.

Leo was always getting picked on. It had been going on ever since he moved to town early the year before. Not that he was so different from everyone else. He had a funny, whiney voice, and he wasn’t very coordinated, but he was a fairly good student and was always friendly. Maybe his problem was that he tried too hard to be friendly. “Doesn’t he ever keep quiet?” Rob had asked one of his friends. “He always acts like he’s my best buddy.”

“Ow!” cried Leo. All the boys and girls near the back of the room tried to hold back giggles. Tim was an expert at shooting paper clips.

“What’s going on here?” demanded Mrs. Wilson. The giggles stopped.
“Someone hit me with something,” said Leo. “They got me right here in the back. It hurts.”

Rob rolled his eyes in impatience. If Leo would not make such a -big deal out of it, no one would pick on him. Half the fun was seeing him get all riled up. Rob didn’t listen to Mrs. Wilson’s’ stern lecture. He had heard the speech before. Rob knew it wasn’t right to give Leo such a bad time. When he was feeling guiltiest about it he would pretend not to notice when his friends played tricks on Leo. But it was strange how it made everyone else feel like part of a close group when they all ganged up on one person.

Anytime you wanted someone on your side or wanted to get a laugh, all you had to do was pick on Leo. Besides, Rob was going to be very careful that he didn’t get singled out like Leo.

As Rob left class, he saw some friends huddled together in the middle of the hall. Rob leaned his head in to catch what they were saying. “Let’s throw him in the girls’ bathroom,” said one.

Even Rob smiled at the thought. The four of them pushed through the crowded hall to catch up with Leo. Just as he passed the girls’ bathroom, three pairs of arms grabbed him. Rob held back nervously.

“Hey! Stop it!” yelled Leo. But before he could say any more he was shoved backward through the door. Rob could hear some girls’ screams and the hallway filled with laughter.

Rob was still smiling when Leo reappeared all flustered. Leo began to gather up his books with covers scuffed up from being thrown around. Rob wondered how it must feel to be in Leo’s place. Leo was almost crying, but he refused to let anyone see him in tears. The hall was nearly empty when Leo got his things back in order. He looked around as if searching for someone he could at least talk to. Then he shuffled slowly down the hall.

It began to bother Rob. Even in bed that night he lay awake thinking about Leo. “He must spend his whole life hating every new day that he wakes up,” thought Rob. “I wish I were bigger and stronger or more popular. Then I could watch out for people like Leo. It would be so much easier on everyone.”

Turning over on his back, he prayed out loud. “Dear God, please watch over Leo. You are strong enough to keep him from any more trouble. And find a friend for him. Amen.”

The next day Rob saw Leo standing in the hall trying to get his jacket zipper unstuck. When he finally worked it free he looked up and saw Rob staring at him. He automatically backed against the wall and covered his books with both hands. “Hi,” he said uncertainly.

Rob was about to answer when he saw his friends bounding down the stairway.

“Hey, Rob!” They shouted.
“Looks like you found Leo.
Have you ever seen anyone who was more of a loser than Leo?”

Rob panicked. “No,” he said, smiling at them. “I’ll see you guys later, I have to get to class early.” He had to leave fast. He could not stand to see what Leo’s hopeful eyes looked like now. It didn’t make him feel any better when he had to walk by Leo’s table at lunchtime. Leo sat alone in the centre of the lunchroom. Nobody would even sit at the same table. Leo ate a sandwich hurriedly and threw the rest of his lunch away. Then he disappeared back into the hall.

Rob did not feel much like going to prayer meeting at church that night. He was disappointed that God wasn’t answering his prayer. Even worse, he was disappointed at himself. He sat glumly in the pew next to his parents. It didn’t feel right to sing, so he drummed his fingers gently on the hymnal during the hymn. He did feel like listening.

Somehow it seemed easier to do when darkness was all that showed through the side windows of the church and his mind was not filled with thoughts of what he was going to do that day as it usually was on Sabbath morning.

The pastor read a familiar Bible passage. He then told about how Jesus was captured and how Peter struck out with his sword. Rob always felt bad at hearing those verses. He wished Jesus had let Peter help. With God’s help it ‘would have been so easy to wipe out all their enemies. But the sermon was saying something different. Jesus didn’t come to beat up people. He didn’t come to save himself, or even to save someone like Leo from being picked on. In a way, Rob thought, Jesus was a lot like Leo. In fact He was picked on much worse. They shoved Him around and laughed at Him. They even killed Him.

“He did it for you,” the pastor was saying. Jesus was the one who was picked on so the rest of us could live. All the sins of the world were heaped on Him.

“My prayer wasn’t such a good one,” thought Rob. “It was like Peter trying to fight with his sword. If we can be big and powerful we are willing to help Jesus crush the bad guys. But Jesus knew that only His suffering would make up for our wrongs. Then we make Him pay the price all alone.”

Rob remembered Leo’s pleading, hopeful eyes that never found anything but tormentors. He was paying the price for everyone else’s good time. Jesus’ eyes must have looked the same, especially when His disciples denied they even knew Him. Wasn’t there some Bible verse that said if you help the least of God’s children you were helping Him? At the end of the sermon, while they were gathering the offering, Rob decided there was only one thing to do. Maybe he was crazy for trying it, but he was feeling that a lot had been done for him and he had not shown much gratitude. It was time he did something in return.

At school the next day, Rob waited by the lunchroom door. His brown bag was growing limp and wet from his sweating palms. He had told his friends that morning what he thought he should do. To his surprise, one of his friends agreed that Leo deserved a break. His other friends said nothing. But Rob could tell by their silence that they were wondering if it would be safe. Would they start getting picked on too?

Then he saw Leo walking alone. Leo stayed close to the wall, especially when he heard a group of boys laughing behind him. Rob took a deep breath.
“Leo,” he called.

Leo stopped and looked around quickly. “Oh, hi, Rob,” he said, a little uncertainly. He was not sure what to expect. He looked around for the others wondering what trick they were going to pull on him this time. But this time no one was there to mistreat him.

“Why don’t you sit with us today?” said Rob. “We’re over by the window.”
“Are you sure?” Leo still was not sure that Rob was being genuine in his offer of friendship.

“Yes, of course, I am really sorry for the way you have been treated lately and I wanted to be a friend to you. Come on.”
Leo went happily with Rob to the table by the window. Rob could not help but notice the empty table they passed. All 10 chairs were still neatly arranged, pushed up against a shiny tabletop streaked with dry cleanser. It was Leo’s old table.

“An empty table never looked so good,” thought Rob as they walked right by it.

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:”Isaiah 53:4.

“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”Matthew 25:40,

You went through a lot for me, Jesus. Your love for me must be stronger than anything I can understand. I want to thank you. I need to thank you, in ways that show. Help me to be a friend to those who have no friends so that they can find a true friend in you.