10 May 2015
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to 2 Samuel 4:4
2 Samuel 4:4 (NIV)
4 (Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet.
He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel.
His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and
became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.)
-- as we
open this morning, I want to share with you the story of Abaynesh , a teen-aged
girl who lives in Ethiopia -- Abaynesh
was born with a severely crippling condition called knock knees
-- now this
is not what we think of when we say someone around us is knock-kneed -- when we
see them, we mean their knees touch, but in Abaynesh's case, her knees were so bowed in that they
actually crossed -- and she was unable to walk or to get around on her own
-- the
people in her village said the reason she looked like that was because of a
curse -- that she had been cursed by evil spirits -- and so the people in the
village shunned her
-- “They
called me ‘the crippled one.’ she said.
"Everyone in my village made fun of me because my knees crossed
each other like this. -- I never thought I would be able to get a job to
support myself, because I was only able to sit down and do the simplest of
work.” -- as a result, Abaynesh lived a
life of isolation and hopelessness -- never leaving the walls of her hut --
never daring to hope she might live a normal life
-- Abaynesh's
mother gave her away to another family as
a servant -- to cook and clean for them -- but this family did not take care of
her and gave her very little food to eat in return for the work she did for
them -- she was forced to search outside the home for scraps in order to
survive -- crawling around in the dust looking for anything she might eat
-- and as
her isolation and time inside the house increased, Abaynesh lost hope she would
ever look or feel normal -- She feared that she would be cursed this way
forever.
-- but a
miracle happened -- a team from CURE Ethiopia found out about her and her
condition and arranged for her to receive surgery to heal her legs -- and after
a long and painful recovery, Abaynesh
has been made whole and well -- she is now able to walk and to work and
to support herself as a housemaid for another family in a new village in
Ethiopia
“I prayed
and promised God that I would devote myself to Him if He healed my legs ” --
and He did1
-- it is
always heart-warming to hear stories like this -- to read of people like
Abaynesh who were once crippled but have been made whole -- who once were sick
but who are now healed -- who were once lost, but now have been found
-- this
morning, I wanted us to take a moment and talk about a person in the Bible that
you may not know much about -- a crippled man called Mephibosheth -- and see
what we can learn about healing in our own lives through his story
II. The Story of Mephibosheth
-- we are
first introduced to Mephibosheth here in 2 Samuel 4:4 -- let's read that verse
again
2 Samuel 4:4 (NIV)
4 (Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet.
He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel.
His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and
became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.)
-- let me
give you the background so you'll understand who the players are -- as you
probably remember, Saul was the first king of Israel -- God had appointed Saul
to be king of Israel at the request of the people -- they were tired of being
governed by judges and prophets -- they wanted a king just like all the other
nations around them -- and so God granted their request and made Saul king
-- Saul was
a gifted military leader, but he wasn't a very good king -- he rebelled against
God -- he refused to follow the direction God gave through the prophet Samuel
-- and so God raised up David -- a man after His own heart -- to become king in
place of Saul
-- after
David defeated Goliath, Saul elevated him to a leadership position in the army
-- and David led the nation to victory many times in their war with the
Philistines and the Amalekites -- and each time he won a battle, his name grew
in the land and people began to follow him
-- David
was everything Saul wasn't -- not only was David a gifted military leader, but
he was a natural leader -- he loved the people and the people loved him -- and
as David led Saul's armies, the people started giving David more and more
acclaim and praised his name in public above Saul's -- and this made Saul
jealous and angry -- and so he decided to kill David and declared war on him
-- some
time after this, Saul and Jonathan were killed in a battle with the Philistines
-- and the throne of Israel passed to his only remaining son, Ish-Bosheth --
Ish-Bosheth was betrayed by his followers, and was killed while he was laying
in bed -- which left Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the only heir remaining
to the throne of Israel
-- when
Ish-Bosheth was killed, the people in Saul's house were afraid that David was
going to come and kill Mephibosheth and everyone there in the palace in order
to become king of Israel once and for all
-- so
everyone began to run for their lives -- Mephibosheth's nurse grabbed him and
tried to run with him, but he fell and injured his feet and became crippled for
life -- they fled to a small village in the wilderness, where they hoped to
live in anonymity, safely away from David's wrath
-- so
that's the back story about Mephibosheth -- so let's get to the good stuff
-- turn
over to 2 Samuel 9 and we'll pick up the story of Mephibosheth there
-- verse 1-3
2 Samuel 9:1-3 (NIV)
1 David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house
of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?"
2 Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba.
They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, "Are you
Ziba?" "Your servant," he replied.
3 The king asked, "Is there no one still left of the
house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?" Ziba answered the king,
"There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet."
-- now
David had a special relationship with Saul's son Jonathan -- you could say they
were blood brothers -- and even though Jonathan's father Saul hated David and
wanted to kill him, Jonathan loved David and David loved Jonathan -- they would
do anything for each other
-- Jonathan
actually warned David that Saul was coming to kill him so that David could
escape and get away safely -- and David protected Jonathan when they were on
the battlefield -- Jonathan and David made a covenant with each other to always
take care of each other's families, no matter what -- and even now, years after
Jonathan's death, David still thought of his friend and remembered their
relationship and their covenant
-- I bring
this up because what happens to Mephibosheth occurs because of the relationship
between David and Jonathan -- it's a reminder to us that our religion is not a
religion based on rules -- it's a religion based on relationship
-- the very
first verses of the Bible speak of relationship -- when we look at Genesis
1:1-2, we read of God the Father creating the heavens and the earth -- of
Jesus, the Word of God, speaking into existence all creation -- and the Holy
Spirit hovering over the waters of the deep -- the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
-- joined together in relationship -- and from that relationship -- from their
love -- the universe was created so that we might live in relationship with God
-- that's
why God gives us portraits of grace such as the picture of the relationship
between David and Jonathan, to remind us of what our relationship with Him
should look like
-- and it
was like that in the beginning -- man was in relationship with his Creator --
the Bible says that God walked with Adam in the Garden in the cool of the day
-- they enjoyed each other's presence -- they loved each other -- things were
good -- everything was as it should be
-- but just
like Mephibosheth, we were crippled by a fall -- when Adam and Eve disobeyed
God and ate of the forbidden fruit, their spirits were crippled and their sin
destroyed our relationship with God forever -- no longer can we love Him as He
desires -- we are crippled in spirit and unable to walk with Him in fellowship
-- verse 4
2 Samuel 9:4 (NIV)
4 "Where is he?" the king asked. Ziba answered,
"He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar."
-- when
David asks where Mephibosheth is, he is told Mephibosheth is living in Lo Debar
-- Lo Debar was a city east of the Jordan River
-- the whole area is a barren wasteland -- the literal meaning of Lo Debar is
“the place of no bread.”
--
Mephibosheth was hiding out in a desolate place -- he was in the far country --
he was as far away from David as he could possible get
-- this
describes us -- we live as Mephibosheth does in the start of this passage -- in
the wilderness -- crippled in spirit -- hiding from the King with no hope of
restoration -- with no way for us to walk back into His good graces
--
Mephibosheth is a picture of who we were before we came to Christ
-- verse 5
2 Samuel 9:5 (NIV)
5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the
house of Makir son of Ammiel.
-- what a
picture of grace! -- Mephibosheth was unable to come before the king, so the
king went to him -- even though Mephibosheth sought to live his life in hiding,
David sought him out and did everything he could to bring him home to the
palace
-- we see
in the actions of David a picture of God's prevenient grace -- David represents
God the Father in this passage -- and just as the king sought out Mephibosheth,
so the King of the universe sought us -- God sought us through His creation --
He sought us through His word -- He sought through His Son
-- before
we were even aware of His presence -- before we even knew He existed -- God was
seeking us and reaching out to us through His prevenient grace
-- our
spiritual lives begin because God took the initiative and sought us -- we could
do nothing on our own -- we do not have the capacity within ourselves to even
begin seeking God or desiring Him -- this is all a move of God
-- and because
we could not go to God, God came for us -- we were just like the lost sheep
that Jesus spoke about -- God left the ninety-nine in order to find us -- the
one sheep that was lost -- in order to bring us to the cross of forgiveness
-- verse
6-12
2 Samuel 9:6-12 (NIV)
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came
to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, "Mephibosheth!"
"Your servant," he replied.
7 "Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for
I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will
restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you
will always eat at my table."
8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your
servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"
9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to
him, "I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul
and his family.
10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land
for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided
for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my
table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
11 Then Ziba said to the king, "Your servant will do
whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do." So Mephibosheth ate
at David's table like one of the king's sons.
12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all the
members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth.
-- it's
important to note here that Mephibosheth was restored to his place because of
another -- David made Mephibosheth like his own son and elevated him to a place
at the king's table -- not because of anything Mephibosheth had done or because
Mephibosheth was good and righteousness
-- no,
David elevated Mephibosheth because of another -- he elevated Mephibosheth because
of Jonathan
-- it's the
same for us -- that's the story of Christianity -- we can stand today forgiven
and clean and restored -- we can live in relationship with God and eat at His
table -- not because of anything we have done -- but simply because of what
Jesus has done
-- just as
Jonathan was the bridge between David and Mephibosheth, Jesus stands as the
bridge between us and the Father -- and to come to the Father, we must come
through Jesus -- for it is only be believing in His finished work on the cross
can we be reconciled and restored in relationship with the King
-- verse 13
2 Samuel 9:13 (NIV)
13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the
king's table, and he was crippled in both feet.
--
Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem
-- he ate at the king's table -- but he remained crippled in his feet for the
rest of his life
-- Mephibosheth
remained physically crippled, even after being elevated -- God healed the
relationship, but He didn't heal the body -- every day when Mephibosheth woke
up and saw his crippled feet and realized where he was, he was reminded of how
he got there -- he didn't do it on his own -- he was only in the king's palace
because of grace
-- when the
Apostle Paul was beset with a thorn in the flesh, he prayed to God three times
to have it removed -- but God refused to remove it -- it stayed as a reminder
to Paul of his need for God
-- in the
same way, even though we stand before the throne of God as redeemed Christians,
our sin nature remains within us to remind us that we stand before God only
through grace -- that we can never make it our own -- but that we need Him
every moment of every day
-- we
remain crippled like Mephibosheth to remind us that we are dependent on God for
all that we are and all that we do
-- so as we
close today, let us take a moment to thank God for remembering us in our
crippled state -- to thank Him for seeking us when we were in a far country --
to thank Him for saving us when we could not save ourselves
-- and
let's leave here today in humbleness and adoration -- and let's carry his
message of hope to the crippled souls around us
-- let us
pray
------------------------------------------------
1 Modified from story by Bruce Alain Flury, "Meet
Abaynesh" https://cure.org/2012/05/meet-abaynesh/
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