I don't know how much you've thought about this, but the faith that you've given your heart to is radical. It's countercultural. It operates fundamentally differently than typically human culture operates. Human culture is all about pride of achievement, pride of position. It's about what you've earned and what you've deserved. It divides itself by race, and culture, and gender, and economic, and social class, each group thinking that they're better than the other, each group thinking they are right, each group proud of who they are and what they've achieved.
Christianity Is Radical
Christianity is radical because the fundamental message of Christianity is that none of us are deserving; none of us can stand on what we've achieved; none of us is able to say, "I am right." All of us have fallen short of the glory of God. And it would be wonderful to think that the church of Jesus Christ would be free of the pride of position, would be free of prejudice, would be free of division, would be free of self-righteousness, that the church of Jesus Christ would not be a group of people who boast in being right and look down on those who are wrong, that the church of Jesus Christ would not be given to judgment and condemnation.
But let's be honest, we are not free of those things. There are people who'll walk into this room, and you would have a bad attitude toward them, some of you, just by the way they're dressed. You know nothing about the content of their heart. Reformed brothers, there'll be dear Armenians in glory. Sorry, it's true! You'll have to spend eternity with them. You'll have plenty of time to talk. While you're wondering how George got in the pearly gates, he'll be wondering the same, looking at you. You see, we forget the message of Christianity is a message of grace.
Grace levels the playing field. We have nothing that we did not receive, says Paul, "Therefore, where is the boasting?" You would think that the closer, the longer, we know the Lord, the longer we read His Word, the more we understand the doctrines of our faith, the more we hear good preaching, the more humble we would become, the more our sense of unworthiness and neediness would grow, but that doesn't always happen. We often grow from neediness to entitlement, from worship to demandingness, from appreciation to condemnation, from rest in the righteousness of Christ to polishing our self-righteousness.
We gossip; we separate; we point the finger; we condemn, all a violation of the Gospel we say we believe. Hard words, but important words. And I would say to you because I have too, "I'm not free of that spirit myself." It's easy for me to look at myself as one of the good guys, deserving of favor from my Lord, when what I have been given has nothing to do with what I've done; it has everything to do with what Another has done for me. I love the story we're going to look at this evening. I think it's perhaps one of the sweetest, human stories in Scripture.
It's one of the sweetest pictures of love you'll ever read. And I want you to understand as we look at this story, where it sits in God's revelation. This mini-story, this story essentially of the relationship between two men is meant to function as a lens on the maxi story of redemption. This little story is meant to help you understand the dynamics of the bigger story so that you would understand how you and I should live inside of the plot of God's story of redemption. So that we would be radically countercultural, that we would be people of grace, people zealous with redemptive love, people of such deep appreciation that we could not look down on that lost person on the street.
Listen, the only thing that separates you and me from the most despicable sinner you could imagine is grace - no compromises, no deals. I'm concerned about us. I'm concerned that a one-hundred and eighty year tradition of grace would become a reason for self-righteousness and pride. I'm concerned that we would be an evangelistic, driven, street-oriented, loving, merciful body of believers. That we would be something more than just theological gatekeepers. Oh, I love theology, and we must keep it pure, but we must live it.
I am concerned for us because I think this spirit of self-righteousness, this moving from being deeply appreciative to thinking of yourself as deserving, is seductive and insidious and, in ways, tempts us all. Well, how's that for an introduction? Turn to your 'Order of Worship' or your Bibles to 2 Samuel 9. Years have passed; each chapter in 1 and 2 Samuel isn't a certain period of time. Some chapters encompass great periods of time. There are great periods of time in between chapters; some are compressed periods of time.
Is There Anyone Left of the House of Saul?
But the kingdom has now been established and unified. David is the King of Israel, and notice verse one, "And David said, 'Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?'" David immediately remembers the covenant he made with Jonathan. You remember that Jonathan literally risked his own life, risked the wrath of his own father who was out to kill David, by protecting David. And at that moment, he and David struck a covenant. And David promised that he would provide for and protect the house of Saul forever.
This is a man of his word, and he immediately remembers that covenant, and he wonders of the now-decimated house of Saul...is there anyone left that he could shower that covenant kindness upon? Do you see the picture? And he's aware that there's a servant now in his household, Ziba, who was a servant in the household of Saul. Ziba was a powerful man; you can look at verse 10; he was a servant who, himself, had 20 servants, prolific man, he had 15 sons. And so it made sense to call him and ask him if he had any knowledge of anyone still remaining in Saul's household?
And so David calls Ziba, notice verse 3, the king says, "Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?" Ziba said to the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet." The king inquires where he is, and the account goes on. That son is Mephibosheth. This young man had had a tough life. He was a prince, perhaps a future king. In one battle, his father and his grandfather had died, virtually ending the house of Saul. A nurse, you have this account in 2 Samuel 4; a nurse grabbed this little five-year-old boy to protect him, running with him into hiding, drops him and injures both of his feet, and he's crippled for life.
He's lost his family; he's lost his position; he's lost his wealth; he's crippled. This child has nothing, and he's living in exile in a private home in Lodebar, what a sad scene. Now a reject, now crippled, now poor, now without any power to change his state. There is a good possibility that Mephibosheth had no knowledge of the covenant that was made between Jonathan and David. He was a little boy when that was made. And so the king sends for Mephibosheth, (now hear this) not because there was anything in this boy that would in any way benefit David.
This child had nothing to offer this young man. He was called because of the kindness and integrity, covenant faithfulness of David's heart. Notice if you would, verse 6, "And Mephobosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, 'Mephibosheth!' And he answered, 'Behold, I am your servant.' And David said to him, 'Do not fear.'" For Mephibosheth to be summoned by the new king would surely have put terror in his heart, because it is very often the custom, when a new household would take the throne, they would finish off any descendants of the previous household so there could be no challenge to the throne.
For all Mephibosheth knew, he was being ushered to his death. That's why David begins with these words, "Do not fear," because he surely knew what was in the heart of this young man. Now notice the words next, verse 7, "I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always." David says three things that you need to notice. Here's the first one: "I will shower you with my love." That word for kindness is almost untranslatable.
It's covenant love; it's steadfast love; it's loving-kindness. It's the bounty, the showering of bounty, that's the result of the love of the giver. That's what it means. The love of the giver, the heart of the giver is filled with love, and because it's filled with love, he showers that love upon you. That's what it means. And David hints at that, he says, "I will show you kindness (listen to this) for the sake of your father Jonathan. I am showering my love upon you because of who you are attached to, because of what someone else has done, not because of what you have done.
Put Yourself in Mephibosheth's Place
You will know my love." I would love for you to be able to put yourself in the place of this poor, crippled, rejected young man, scared to death, as he stands before this king whose life was made so difficult by this boy's grandfather, and to hear the king say, "I will shower my love upon you." Amazing! There's a second thing that David says. First, "I will give you my love". Second, "I will make you rich." Look what it says here, "I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father." This was the king; this was lots of land.
In this culture, land was power; land was riches. "I am going to, by an act of my love, immediately move you from poverty to riches. A 'riches' you couldn't earn at this point; a 'riches' you couldn't deserve. These riches are the result of my love for you." I think, by this point, Mephibosheth's knees are getting weak as he takes in what is actually happening to him. There's a third thing: "I will set my love upon you; I will shower you with riches." Third thing, "I will adopt you into my family."
That's what it means when it says, "You shall eat at my table always. You will live in my court. You'll be in the inter-sanctum of my family; you will banquet at my table. You will be my son." I sort of wish I could have an echo at this moment... "You will be my son, son, son, son, son, son," so you get the grandeur of what is actually being said here. And then notice dear Mephibosheth's response, "What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I? I'm nothing; I have nothing; I deserve nothing.
How could it be that you would shower me with this love?" And beginning with verse 9, David begins to act on his commitment to love, to shower with riches, to adopt Mephibosheth into his family. And the capstone is there in verse 13, "So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet." I said to you when we began this evening, two things that I want to repeat. One is that I think all of us are at least tempted to give way to pride of knowledge, pride of ministry, pride of theology, pride of position, to move from deep and worshipful appreciation to be proud people who think they deserve what they're getting and look down on others quite regularly.
I said something else; that these kinds of stories in Scripture, these mini dramas are meant to be like windows for us so that we could see and understand the maxi drama of redemption more accurately and more fully. What an incredible picture we have in this passage of the redemptive love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, this passage is a mirror that you can look into, and you can see yourself with accuracy. Let me ask you the question, "As you stand before the King of kings and Lord of lords, what thing would you argue would make you deserving?
What would you stand before Him and hold as evidence of your right to His love? What would you hold before Him and say, 'Because of this, I deserve eternity?'" There is only one answer, "Nothing!" This is a room full of Mephibosheths. We're poor, lost, living in the enemy's household, lame, broken by sin. We don't even have the sense enough to seek the King's favor apart from His grace first operating on us. Remember in this passage, in this account, the king did the seeking. None of us would be in this room if God hadn't first acted upon us by His grace.
We Come Broken and Impoverished
Praise Him! And we come to Him broken; we come to Him impoverished; we come to Him with the fear of our guilt. We come as sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore. And we have one argument, one argument. It's His love. That's the only argument we have; we have nothing else. And in that way, we are like everyone else. We must not forget that. We have what we have, not because of our achievement, but because of the drama of the rescue of His transforming grace. That's our message!
And what has He done for us? Out of the bounty of His heart, He has showered His love upon us, magnificent, transforming, eternal love. If you sang of that love for ten-million years, you would never exhaust the content of that love. What else has He done? He's made you rich. He's taken you, by His grace, from utter personal poverty... moral, spiritual, functional poverty--to riches! I love what it says in 2 Peter, chapter 1, "That his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness."
How's that for riches? Everything! Everything! Everything! Everything! "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." That's the Gospel. And then shock of shocks, quite apart from the way human culture operates, He makes us His children. He makes us His sons and daughters. Now, you are the children of God, and that is what you are. Not because of your natural birth, not because of position, or prominence, or wealth, or achievement, but because of His sovereign love. I am rescued from the domain of darkness, and not just made a citizen of the kingdom; I'm made a child of the King.
And yet, I must look at myself and say, "None of it is of me; it's all of Him." And then, like David, every day, He acts to fulfill the promises He has made to me. He acts to demonstrate to me His love and to transform me by that love; He acts to deliver to me those riches that are mine; He acts to draw me ever closer into relationship of Him so there's tenderness, and intimacy, and love between Father and son, so I can literally climb up in His lap and say, "Abba, Father." I am deeply persuaded that one of the chief sins of modern Christianity is the sin of forgetting.
We forget who we are. We forget what we've been given, and in so doing, we become what we should not be. An appreciation of grace, morphs into pride of religion. This passage is in the Old Testament to confront you. This passage is in the Old Testament to rebuke you and me. This passage is in the Old Testament to give you the deepest, fullest hope and comfort you could ever have. Because of the covenant love of the Lord Jesus Christ, expedited on the cross of His death, in a radical act of substitution, I am granted love, I am granted riches, I am granted adoption, and I will never be the same again.
Now if that message doesn't excite you, as a preacher, I'm in deep trouble. If that message doesn't mobilize you, if that message doesn't humble you, if that message doesn't hammer pride into compassion and self-righteousness into grace, there's no message that will. God help us to be willing to say, "With great joy, if I only ever am a Mephibosheth, that's ok, because my hope is not me. My hope is in the bounty of the King. Let's Pray: Lord, thank you for the powerful way that this historical account is a finger pointing to the Messiah, is a mirror exposing us, is a lens clarifying for us the great story of redemption.
Please forgive us for forgetting. Please forgive us for moving from deep, worshipful appreciation...to pride and self-congratulation and a spirit of unwholesome judgment and condemnation. May we remember Your covenant as You are faithful to remember it on our behalf. In Jesus's name, Amen.
