All right.
Well, hey guys, man, we're so pumped. What an incredible story. I mean, that story just hits every angle of what we're talking about. And we're going to dive right back into it. Before we do, though, I want to say this to us.
First of all, welcome everybody who may be watching at home because Snow Beginning was last week and now Snowpocalypse may be this week.
So if that's you guys and you're watching this on Sunday, we're part of the Thursday service here.
So we're excited to be with y'all this weekend. But I do want to tell you guys we have something really awesome coming up and then we're going to dive right into the sermon. And that is Sent Weekend is coming up here in a couple of weeks. And I know some of you guys are so new. You're like, man, what is Scent Weekend?
Scent Weekend is a very big part of what we do every year because it is a time that we set aside an entire weekend as a church to simply think about, pray for, commit to, set our minds toward the nations, okay, and the people who have yet to hear the gospel. I want you guys to take joy in this. This very month, we sent a missionary to To a very hard place that has been at Mercy Hill for 10 years, all right? She was 16 years old whenever we met her, and she was homeless at that time. And now she is on the field sharing the gospel with the unreached.
Praise God, right? Praise God for that. Man, a big part of that is keeping the heart of God for the nations alive and well and in front of us. And I'm telling you, me first, okay? Man, everything in life is going on, and there's sports, and there's kids, and there's financial stuff, and you're trying to grow your business, and there's just all these good things that are in front of you.
And I understand that because I'm in that same mode, right? And it's, and even for a pastor, at times, we can stop to think about what the biggest thing that the Lord has called us into is. And we want to set aside a weekend every year to just say, oh no, we're going to recenter on this idea. When people ask me, why did you plant Mercy Hill? I used to always say, because we want to send.
We want to see people go out from here. And especially the apex of that is when they go out and they go reach the unreached in the hardest places.
So this weekend, Scent weekend, coming up in a couple weeks, it is about every one of us refocusing. It's going to be a time for us to recommit ourselves. Listen, we all either go or we send. Or we disobey, all right? That's kind of the options.
And so we want to be ascending-minded place, and this weekend is going to be awesome for us to do that. I do want to invite you guys to what we're calling the Nations Night, okay?
So it's Friday night, it's February 13th, and man, my friend and mentor, Pastor J.D. Greer, is going to be with us, and he's going to preach a fire sermon on going to the nations, all right? And I want you guys to be here. I hope we pack this place out with people from all the different campuses. We're going to be right here at the Ridge.
I'm telling you, he's going to preach a sermon that, man, it's really going to get into you. If you're worried about going to the nations or worry that your kids might want to go to the nations, don't come.
Okay, because I'm telling you, I've seen this brother, and the Lord's hand is on him in this particular area, and he's going to be bringing a word for us that night that is just going to be powerful. I am praying for that, and I believe that it will be.
So, hey, let's come with expectant hearts. There's nothing to sign up for, you don't have to put RCP or anything like that. Just mark your calendars for February 13th, and it'll be an incredible night of worship, prayer, hearing the word talk, committing to our lives, to seeing the gospel go to the ends of the earth. All right, all right, let's dive in. We are going to be in 2 Samuel chapter 9 and 19 for just a brief moment here together tonight.
Like I said, there's snow mageddings, no apocalypse. Not the ideal way that you roll out a five-year vision for your church, okay, as we did last week.
So, if you missed last week and you're watching this online, or you guys are here with us tonight, man, we put this out for the church. We have committed to saying, Hey, we don't know what God's going to do, but our prayer. And all of our planning in terms of the community ministry arm of our church is gonna see 1,000 children affected and impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ through adoption, foster care, and families count by the year 2030. All right? It's a big vision, right?
It's a big vision. We believe that God is burdening us in this area. We believe He's got His hand on us in this area. But we're gonna have to do a lot of work to get from here to there. And part of that work is heart work.
It is thought work. Our what and how, our strategies will never rise beyond our why. Why do we do this? Why are we so all in when it comes to the most vulnerable among us and seeing these thousand children impacted by the gospel?
Well, today we're going to get a chance to get into one of the most grace-filled, intense Stories in the scripture that you potentially have never heard of. All right? We're gonna hear the story today of a guy named Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was in every way, should have been an enemy of David. He was a guy that.
Man had everything going against him. He was even lame. He couldn't walk. He was helpless in so many ways. And yet, King David, who we see in Christ, a better and truer David, was so kind to him.
And we're going to get into what that means. All right.
I don't know if you guys have ever felt helpless in a situation. Maybe it's something, a car stuck in the snow, okay, or something like that. Maybe it's something with, you know, you got separated from your phone. I've seen some people really freak out over that, okay? I don't know if you ever felt kind of helpless in a situation.
I've told you guys before, I felt pretty helpless in a situation. One time, we had our kids out on the New River and we were camping out there, and I decided I was going to take them on the tubing on the New River, okay? And my youngest son at that time, this is years ago, so he was just a little fella. He was three or four years old. My youngest son was very worried about the tubing trip because he was afraid it was going to storm.
And I promised him, okay? I said, man, there's no way. All right.
Now, I hadn't looked at the radar or anything. But I was like, there's no way that it's gonna storm. We're gonna be fine. We're gonna be good. He trusted me.
We get on the river, and within one hour, it is a hurricane.
Okay, I mean, it is lightning, thunder. The wind is coming. We're freezing cold. I mean, it's horrible. And there's nobody around.
All the other tubers are gone. And it was just terrible.
So I didn't really know what to do. I pulled them off of the river. We go and we huddle up underneath a giant tree. I know.
Okay, you're not supposed to do that. All right.
And so we're underneath this tree. And on the new river, there, I didn't know if it was a mirage or what, but I see a woman in a kayak heading our way. And I'm like, this is an angel of God.
Okay. And she gets up to me and she's like, Do you need help? And I was like, we need help, man. This is terrible. I don't know where we are.
I got no phone. I got nothing. I mean, we're, you know. And she said, and she's like, well, what do you need? And I said, well, do you have a phone?
And she said, no. And I said, well, you got any water? She said, no. You got a towel? No.
You got any rope? No. I was like, what did you envision happening here? You know? I mean, she was like, Yeah, I don't know.
Sorry. Hope you make it, you know, and she goes off. I always remember how helpless I sort of felt in that moment of, like, man, I got nothing, my kids are scared, you know. And maybe you guys have had some kind of feeling like that. Maybe it's something more serious.
Maybe you felt really helpless with a diagnosis. Maybe you felt really helpless when a job loss unexpectedly happened, right? And we have that feeling of helplessness. Let me sort of define helpless for you, okay? Can I just define helpless for you?
3,000 years ago, your family was in power, and now they're all dead. And the new king is a guy that they tried to repeatedly kill. And you have no money, you're in hiding, and when you were five years old during a battle, you ended up falling down, breaking both your legs, and you've been crippled ever since.
Now that is helpless. And when you're in that kind of helpless state, listen. That is a canvas on which the kindness of the king can shine. And that's what we're going to see in this story. God's kindness meets us in our helplessness.
That's our big idea for this weekend. God's kindness meets us in our helplessness. Here is the problem with some of us when it comes to spiritual growth: we don't remember how helpless we were. Or we don't know currently how helpless we are. There are some of us who have not come to the saving knowledge of understanding Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, and here's the reason: it's because we still are under the illusion that we can make it on our own.
We are under the illusion that we are not helpless before him. And what we're going to see today is a picture of Mephibosheth and a picture of David that corresponds perfectly with a picture of us spiritually before God, before Jesus Christ our King. And we're going to see His kindness shine for us. Let's get into the story. 2 Samuel chapter 9 says this: And David said, Now this is when he's become king, he's got the power, okay?
Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. And they called him to David. And the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am your servant. And the king said, Is there not still someone in the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God to him?
And Ziba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan, and he is crippled in his feet.
Now, I don't know how much Bible reading you've done. We have people at this church that have been veteran Christians for a long time, and we have people every single week where this is their first rodeo, and it's a beautiful mess, okay? It's awesome. And if you're coming in and you're new, or maybe you haven't heard a lot about David, let me tell you something about David. David is an eccentric character.
even within a book that is filled with eccentric characters, okay? He is constantly doing the thing that you just can't imagine that he would do. And that's exactly what happens here. When he comes back to power, instead of seeking revenge on all of those that sought his life, on the king that was before him. On all of those that wanted him, that still harbor hatred many times against him.
Later in David's life, his own son rebels, and David has to flee, and people from this very lineage and tribe are dancing in the streets. They're yelling curses at David.
So there is still this animosity. It's not like it's all just gone between the house of Saul and the house of David. And yet, what does David say? For the sake of my friend Jonathan. who I have covenanted with.
And we see that from 1 Samuel chapter 20. For the sake of Jonathan, I want to show kindness to someone because I am committed to him because I said I would.
Now, I want you to think about how crazy this is. 3,000 years ago, warrior society.
Now think about it in our life. I mean, new CEO comes, everybody's a little nervous in the C-suite, right? It's like, man, I don't know, he's gonna bring his own people in. John Harbaugh was fired as the coach of the Ravens.
Now he is the coach of the New York Giants. And on the day, the first day, calls all the coaches in and he says, hey guys, clean out your lockers. Right? Because I'm new sheriff in town. I'm bringing in my crew.
Now, that sentiment, we all kind of sort of understand. You go back 3,000 years in a cutthroat society, and what everyone would have expected was for David to say, Is there anybody of the lineage of Saul left that I might need to go and cut off? And instead, what he says is, Is there anybody of the house of Saul left for Jonathan's sake that I might be able to show kindness to? The king says, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul that I might show the kindness of God to him?
Now, I want us to focus in on this phrase for a moment: the kindness of God. Because I do believe that kindness. Has sort of lost maybe the weight of this word in our culture, okay? And it's fine. I mean, we say kind, I just don't think we mean the same thing.
Like when you're going to your kids' kindergarten classroom and it says be kind, you know, it's saying be nice, you know, that kind of idea. I told you guys before, I am technically a millennial, although I am a geriatric millennial.
Okay, I'm one of the old ones that is out there. And my childhood as a millennial, I do remember a lot of the old things. I remember Steve Urkel on TGIF Fridays.
Some of you guys remember blowing on Nintendo video games to get them to work. Does anybody remember that? And one of the things I remember very well is Blockbuster Video. Our kids nowadays cannot fathom what that was. What could it possibly mean to drive to the store and get a cassette and have to come and bring it to?
I mean, it's just, you know, mind-blowing for them. What happened? And every time you got a blockbuster video, what did the thing say on it? Be kind and? Ah, rewind, right?
Be kind. All the young people are like, they are aliens, y'all. They come from a different world. Be kind and rewind. That is not what the Bible means by kindness.
It's not just saying be nice here. Instead, what David is wanting to do is to show his covenant commitment. to his friend. He is wanting to show a deep and abiding love. Kindness in this regard is a steadfast love, it is a covenant commitment.
I want you to think about it like this. Stay with me here, okay? A covenant kindness. is different than a consumer kindness. Many of us are kind.
based on what we get in return. That's consumer kindness. What we're talking about today is covenant kindness. True kindness is about covenant love, not consumer love.
Now, I'm not harping on anybody here because I've grown up in the same culture you have. Guys, we are in it, live, breathe, work all day long in a consumeristic culture. What's in it for me? You know, and that's just the way that we think. Covenant, though, is not what's in it for me.
What we think is, this is how we think relationships work, right? We think relationships work like this. If I'm going to get what I want, I'll give you what you want. Covenant works like this: I committed to you whether I get what I want or not. I have decided I'm in.
That was David's relationship with Jonathan. And now he wants to show that kindness. to Jonathan's son, this crippled guy named Mephibosheth.
Now, I just want you to think for a second here how the idea of thinking more like covenant, and I'm not even saying you're making a covenant in friendship, okay? You are making a covenant in marriage, but in friendship, I'm just saying, what if the gospel compelled us to think more like, not what do I get out, but because of what God has poured out in my life, what can I bring to the table? You know, it changes the way that we interact with people. I've seen people even in our church, y'all. And in other churches, of course, man, they even friendships, we treat them like it's something that we consume and then we bounce and we don't get what we want.
How many times have I seen people in churches that were poured into by myriads of people? In mountainous ways. And the second they get offended about something that I say, or somebody didn't treat them the right way in group, man, they bounce just like that. That's not covenantal. That's the idea of consumer.
The second I'm not getting what I want, I'm out because I was in it for me the whole time. I want you to think about this in marriage. If you asked me, and you just said, hey, man, you're just a dude, but you've been watching and in pastoral ministry for 20 years, I've seen thousands of marriages, okay? If you just asked me, number one problem that people deal with in marriage without realizing it is you went in with a consumer mindset instead of a covenant mindset. What you went into it with, you're here for me.
Not I'm here for you. You know, I just, we see it all the time. Man, lonely dude doesn't have an identity really established in the gospel, doesn't think of himself as a son first and everything else second, so he needs something to feed his identity and grab onto. And guess what happens? He feels like he's sinking, and here comes a five-foot blue-eyed blonde-haired life preserver.
And he grabs on with everything that he has. And you know what happens? I mean, he just about drowns her in the process because that's not what it was about. It wasn't about you. It was about two people covenanting, not consuming one another.
Now that's just something that's so radical for David. I think it's radical for us. He goes into this thing thinking, what can I give? Where can I show the steadfast love? Where can I show the kindness of God?
Then David sent and brought him to the house of Micur the son of Ammai in Lodabar. And Mephibosheth, 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. I'm wondering what Mephibosheth is thinking.
He's probably thinking, this is it for me, man. This is probably the end. I know how my grandfather treated you. That's not what he's going to get, not what he deserves. He's going to get kindness.
And David said to him, do not fear. For 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. Skip down to verse 13.
So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table.
Now he was lame in both of his feet. David shows great covenant kindness. This is not about what he is going to get. In fact, look at what he has given away. David, for the sake of this relationship, has given away security.
Man, what if Mephibosheth is actually harboring something against me? But I'm gonna take a risk here because I feel like God is compelling me to do it. And I made a covenant to his father and I committed to him. He is giving away land and possessions. Y'all, all that was the king's is now David's, because guess what?
He's the man now. It was his, now it's mine. I'm going to give it away. I'm going to give it to Mephibosheth. And thirdly, y'all, he's giving away a place at his table.
Basically, what he's saying is, and he actually kind of says this, is: you are going to be like one of my sons now. I'm bringing you into my family. My sons get a place at this table that I pay for. And you will be here to sit with me. And it's not because of what you bring, and in fact, it's kind of despite who you are.
Think about Mephibosheth in this story. He is lame in his feet in a warrior society 3,000 years ago. Lame in your feet means two things: I can't fight. And I can't work. And if I can't do those two things, then what value do I have?
Can't fight, can't work, former enemy, living in a place called Lodabar. You know what that's translated to? It means nothing. Living in a place called nothing with a name Mephibosheth that literally means shame. This is who he is.
And David has poured out his kindness upon him. Y'all, one commentator said it like this: I couldn't agree more. This is a stunning act of divine grace.
Now, this story. It gets very serious and I hope that you can lock in with me. Here's why this story gets so serious for us today. You and I start thinking about this story, and here's what we naturally do: we think, man. I don't know if I could do that.
I mean, you got an enemy who wants to kill you, all this history here, and you got one of his ancestors, and you're going to bring him to the table. And we start thinking, man, I'm not sure I could do that without realizing you and I are not David in this story. You and I are Mephibosheth in this story. Make no mistake. It is you and I, when it comes to the table of the Lord, that are the enemy, that are lame, not in just our feet, but in our soul.
You and I come from a place called nowhere with a name, nothing better than shame itself. Because of our sin. This is what the Bible tells us in the book of Ephesians. We are rebellious, man. We are enemies of God.
We are not in the family. Our sin has put us on the outside looking in. You wanna talk about lameness? I mean, sure, Mephibosheth couldn't carry himself to the table. You and I, the Bible says, are dead in our sin.
We're worse than lame. We don't need to just get healed. We need to get resurrected. And yet, we have one who showed us kindness when we couldn't walk to the table. He carried us to the table.
See, one day in the future, 3,000 years after this story happens, you know what happens? The true David shows up, the true king. The greater and truer David. And here's what he does. Just like with Mephibosheth, he looks through all the mess and all the problems.
And he does everything that is necessary. When you and I couldn't walk to take our place at God's table, Jesus carried us by living a life that we didn't live, by dying a death that we deserved on the cross, in our place, and by offering us the newness of life in the resurrection. You could say it like this, y'all. Just like Mephibosheth, we deserved wrath and we got mercy. We deserved wrath, and we got grace poured out in our life.
You and I are him. This is a picture of us. spiritually and it's a picture of how great the lord is for us You know, mercy is when what you deserve is withheld from you, and grace is when you end up getting that which you did not deserve. And on the cross, Jesus gave us both. David gave Mephibosheth both.
I've thought about this, I've told you guys this before, but when I think of mercy and grace, the story instantly comes into my mind of when, I don't know, my daughter was probably five years old or something like that. I'm out working at the barn, I hear my dog, old red.
Okay, he's starting to bark, and next thing you know, that bark has turned into a yelp. And he's yelping over and over and over. And I run around the barn, and he's got blood all over his face, and he's sitting there looking at a huge, giant snapping turtle. All right? And his snapping turtle had just about took his nose off, big old gash.
I was very upset, okay? My daughter comes, she hears it all. She's the little girl, you know, she comes running around the barn, and I've got a 2x4 in one hand and a machete in the other. And she's like, Daddy, what are you gonna do? And I said, Well, I'm gonna shake this two by four in front of this turtle's face until he goes to bite it.
And then I'm gonna cut his head off with this machete. Wrong thing to say to a five-year-old little girl. He didn't mean it, okay? He's got a turtle family, all right? All of this stuff.
Next thing I know, I'm on the four-wheeler with the thing, the little demon thing, trying to bite me.
Okay, he's in a bucket. We've got lettuce and carrots. And we're driving down to reunite him with his turtle family down in the creek. And I think about that story because I thought, man, in my opinion, you come up into my yard. And try to bite my dog's nose off.
You deserve wrath, okay? That's what I think.
Alright, but instead, he not only got to keep his head. But now he's got lettuce and carrots and a ride. You know, mercy is when what we deserve is withheld. Grace is when what we didn't deserve is poured out. It would have been enough for David to look at Mephibosheth and say, hey man, go back in your shame.
Back to your land of nothing. And you just live and I won't, I'm not gonna, hey, I'm not gonna clean house here. I mean, that would have been an overwhelming act of mercy. But instead of just doing that, what does he do? He gives him a place at the table.
And that, y'all, is what the blood of Christ has done for us. Man, not only are we withheld from what we deserve every time we have committed sin before God, which is every one of us in greater ways than we can ever imagine, we instantly deserve to be separated from God. To die death physically and spiritually, and to spend eternity in a place called hell. That's what we deserve. And if it wasn't enough, The price that Jesus paid on the cross covers us from that.
What if God would have just put us at a zero? That would have been more than we could ever ask for or imagine, but that's not what He did. Instead, what he does is he covers our sin and then he invites us into the family. And he says, You are a precious son or daughter of the king. What did I talk about last week?
He has lavished his love upon us, 1 John 3:1, that we would be called his children. It's almost too much for us. When you think about it. When you think about what your life deserves. And then you think about what God has given you.
You understand?
Now we start to get in the heart posture. Of how we can look at others in a covenantal way, and how we can look at others that are vulnerable, and how we can get after it as a church to see a thousand kids impacted by the gospel. But here's the deal. You will never act like David until you feel like Mephibosheth. I mean, that's honestly, that's David's story too.
If you want to mark this down, go back and read God's covenant with David in 2 Samuel chapter 7. David doesn't just muster up this kind of kindness. God has shown this kindness to him. And now he wants to show it to others. And I want to tell you something: when you begin to view yourself as Mephibosheth, and the grace of God has been poured out in your life, and you have been given that place not at the king's table, but at the banqueting table, I'm talking about the eternal table.
When you have been given that. Man, it begins to put us in the heart posture of being able to look at others in a non-consumeristic way, but in more of a covenantal way. In more of a way where we say, I will pour out for others whatever I get in return. And you know what? That's what happened in Mephibosheth's life.
Let me tell you something a little bit interesting here.
Now, I'm going to tell you: the story I'm about to say. is confusing.
Okay, so you go back and you read it in 2 Samuel chapter 19 for yourself. And if you come out to a different conclusion, we can just kind of say, okay, it is a little confusing. When I get to heaven, I'm gonna get to the bottom of it too. Just FY. But here is basically the story as I understand it.
Mephibosheth takes his place at the king's table. Basically one of the king's sons. I told you earlier, later in David's life, there is an absolute tragedy. One of his sons rebels against him. And actually, if you go back and read the story, there's a ton of passivity from King David in an issue with one of his daughters and another son that is horrific, that he should have stepped up and shown himself to be a protector, and he doesn't.
And his son Absalom takes matters into his own hands, kills one of his brothers. and decides I'm running my dad out. And he rises up, and David has to flee. And as David is fleeing, some of his friends in 2 Samuel 16, including the servant of Saul, Ziba, meet him on the road because David's friends are coming to show loyalty, even though he's having to flee. And David says, Where is Mephibosheth?
And it seems like Zeba. Who don't like the fact that he has a new master because when there wasn't no Saul around, guess who was the master? Right? It was Zeba. He makes it seem to David like, you know what?
Mephibosheth's heart was never with you. He didn't even want to come. He didn't want to come and meet you. And David seemingly buys the story a little bit because he actually says to Ziba in 2 Samuel 16, he says, Hey man, well, you can just take the whole deal, all the land, everything, it's yours now since Mephibosheth is acting this way. Later in the story, in Second Samuel 19, finally, Mephibosheth.
Gets himself to David because basically he's had to drag himself there because he doesn't, he's lame. And here's what the Bible tells us. That he comes up to David. He hasn't taken care of his feet. He's been in mourning.
He hasn't taken care of his beard, his hair. He's probably looking all frazzled. And he comes to David. And David is trying to work all this stuff out, but here's what happens in verse 29. And the king said to him, said to Mephibosheth.
Because Mephibosheth is like, no, man, I wanted to get here. Ziba deceived you. That's kind of the idea. And so here's what David says. Why speak any more of your affairs, Mephibosheth?
I have decided you and Ziba just divide the land. And Mephibosheth says to the king, Oh, Let him take it all. since my lord the king has come home safely.
Now Hang with me, okay? Hang with me, because this story happens again in the Bible. Pretty much the same story. What is David doing here?
Some people might look at this and say, well, David is saying, hey, it's a, he said, she said, man. Ziba says, you weren't with me. You're saying you were with me. I gave it all to you. Then I gave it all to him.
Let's just sort of split it in half.
Some of you guys have heard the phrase people will say before: split the baby. You know where that comes from. It actually comes from David's son, Solomon.
Solomon was presented with great wisdom. Actually, he was the wisest man that ever lived. But he also was a chip off the old block. Because I believe what David is doing here, Solomon actually learned from him, because David is trying to get to the bottom of this thing. He's trying to figure out whether Mephibosheth's heart is actually with him or not.
And so here's what he says: well, just divide the land. We'll see how you guys react.
Solomon did the same thing. One time there were two prostitutes who had two babies. They were living in the same house. One of the babies died. One of the prostitutes whose baby had died swapped the baby so it looked like the other woman's died.
But the other woman recognized her baby. They come to King Saul. And here's what Saul, I mean Saul, Solomon. And here's what Solomon says, David's son.
Solomon says, well, how about this? How about you just divide them? You take half, you take half. Done. The woman who was filled with envy said fine.
Good with me. The woman who was actually her child said, No, no, no, let her take it. Right? Because I could never bear to see my son divided with a sword.
Solomon's a chip off the old block. He learned this move from David. David is saying, y'all just divide it. Let's see what the outcome is. What I expect, this is not in the scripture I told you.
I'm going to get into the bottom, I'm going to get to the bottom of it one day, all right? I want to know if, when David said that, if Ziba was like, fine with me. I'll take my half, right? Because he had been lying the whole time about this, just trying to make sure that he was going to get his. What does Mephibosheth say?
Mephibosheth say, oh, let him take it all. Since my lord the king has come home safely, you understand what Mephibosheth is saying, Mephibosheth. I have done so well. Mephibosheth is saying Man, you know what? You know why?
I don't care if Ziba takes it all. 'Cause I don't plan on being anywhere but your table. And that's in Jerusalem. Man, he can have it. That's not my home.
My home is with you. And that's what I want us to see, the kindness of God. Poured out to us. It gives us that type of attitude where we say, man, this world. You can have it all.
What I'm delighting in is my place at your table and it changes our response.
So, here's our application point. I'm going to wrap up with this. Y'all respond to God's kindness by showing kindness. And again, I'm not talking about be kind or rewind. I'm worried somebody's gonna take a sermon clip of this and say, well, they're watering it down at Mercy Hill.
Look what he's saying, telling everybody to go be kind, okay? That's not what we're doing. I'm not talking about Be Kind and Rewind. I'm not talking about kindergarten kindness. I'm talking about whatever the opposite of consumerism is in a relationship.
I'm talking about looking at the world. And saying, man, it's not about what I get out, it's about what I can pour in, because I have been given a seat at the table. What else could I desire that is beyond that? In fact, everything else that I desire is framed by that. It is pouring out because of that reality.
And that's what we have to get. We're not David, we're Mephibosheth. I've told you guys before, you know, one of the most powerful illustrations in a great book called Adopted for Life, one of the most powerful illustrations in that book. Is where it says, Man, I want you to imagine that you're adopting a child, you go to the agency, this is the day you're bringing the child home. And the social worker comes out and says, Well, there's a little bit of a problem here, okay?
Because actually, you thought you were getting an infant that had this type of heritage and all that, and instead, this is the child you're taking home. The child is much older. The child has all types of problems. Man, he's been in multiple different homes. He's been abused.
He's got, man, every man in his whole life has had alcoholism. All right, he's a fire starter. He's acting out the abuse that he has had. It's this, it's crazy.
Now, you just sit right here, and we're gonna go get the paperwork for you to sign. And here's what happens. Many of us immediately are like, man, I couldn't do that without realizing in the illustration, you're not the parent. You're that child. And God is looking as that parent, saying, Man, I see all of that.
I see all the brokenness. I see how messed up you are. I know that we can put it together when we go to work. We can come on Sunday and like we got it together, but God is saying, man, I know what all of it really is. Know the whole background, know the whole deal.
But you know what? I'm going to sign for you anyway. And my signature is not a payment of ink or money I paid for you in blood. The blood of my Son given for you.
So here's the question. God's kindness met us in our helplessness. Will our kindness meet others in theirs? And listen, you can apply this a bunch of different ways, man. But I want to tell you what David told Ziba at the very beginning when I started preaching.
You know what he said? He said, Is there anybody else I can show kindness to? Ziba says, There's a guy, Mephibosheth. You can go, you know, he's a descendant of Saul, Jonathan's son. And David says, Go find him.
Bring him to me. And that's what I want to leave our church with this weekend, man. Whether you're sitting at home because of Snow Mageddon or whether we're here right now Thursday night service, that's what I want to leave us with. I almost want it to be haunting for us. Go find him.
Who is the or are the Mephibosheths in your life that God is calling you to go find? based off of the kindness that has been poured out to you. Who are the ones that you can go find? And y'all, the applications are as long as we could, they're as unique as every single person that is in this room. For some, it means, hey, I want there to be mephibosheths, people that are helpless, that get to hear the gospel.
Some of you might say, man, I want that to outlive me. in a legacy way. I mean, that's what our retreat center that we're trying to build is all about. gonna last way after we're all gone. People are still going to be hearing the gospel and being transformed in that place.
Maybe there's something there. That's something that I want to chase, that's something that I want to give to. I've talked about sin weekend earlier, man. We go, we sin, we disobey. Are there Mephibosheths?
that are out there, that are like just waiting, man, would you sign up for that trip? Would you fund somebody to go that's asked you? You know, that kind of thing. But of course, I wanna land the plane by talking about the serious tie here to adoption. I mean, essentially, David is adopting Mephibosheth into his family.
And so we can't get away from this without saying, well, let's actually go all the way to the bottom. of what the application could be here. How does it relate to you and chosen? Go and find him. Man, for some of us, that might mean I want to step up in a major way to support families in this church.
Some of you are like, I'm so excited to be here because I'm not going to do that. I don't feel called to that. That's fine, there's no guilt and pressure. I could guilt and pressure us all day long. It's going to put a fire under us.
We need a fire in us. All right, some of us aren't called to this. We're all called to it in some way. to help, to support. to hold the rope.
Maybe that's what your calling is going to be. You want to come alongside someone else as they go and find him. But I'm going to tell you In a church the size of Mercy Hill, and hearing it this weekend online, if that's what has to happen. There are probably hundreds of families in this church that maybe that's not the call. Maybe the call actually is.
No like Andrew, when you're saying go find him. There's a child out there that needs a place at our table. Literally. Whether it be in foster care. Or it be permanent in adoption, whether they need a stop for a while as we help their parents get their stuff together.
Or maybe they're called to become one of our family and be adopted all the way in. Is there someone that you need to go and find? Man, just like you. There's children out there right now who have no chance of getting to the table by themselves. Their feet might as well be crippled.
There is so much. They can't come to our tables. but we can't go find them. Just like someone came and found us. What we gotta have you do.
Let's pray. Father, We come before you right now and Lord I pray that our hearts would be moved to see your gospel message in our life. God is see what it is that you have done. to see ourselves as Mephibosheth. And God, I pray that in doing so, you will motivate us.
to take actions like David. Lord, I pray in our church, God, that we would have a posture of open hands. And even here tonight or this weekend online. Lord, I pray that every one of us would wrestle and have conversations. It's not if we're called to care for the orphan.
It's how. Lord, I pray that we would have a blank check on the table for you in Christ's name. Amen.
