Find Your Mephibosheth, Part 2

Today on Summit Life with Jiddy Greer. From Pastor J.D.

Greer here on Summit Life. As always, I'm your host, Molly Vidovich. Last time on the program, we heard a lesser known story about King David and his desire to bless someone many would have considered his enemy. What we learned is that David understood he had been the recipient of extravagant grace and he felt compelled to find someone to whom he could show that same kind of generosity. Today, Pastor J.D. helps us understand that before we can become generous like David was towards Mephibosheth, we must first recognize the generosity of Christ towards us and how the truth of the gospel transforms the way we see others.

So let's rejoin Pastor J.D. in 2 Samuel, chapter 9. This is a precious little chapter that captures the heart of the gospel in one simple story. If you remember last week, 2 Samuel 7, David had been the recipient of extraordinary generosity. David had tried to build a house for God, but God had said, no, David, this whole deal is not about you giving to me. No, this is about me giving to you. You're not gonna build me a house, David.

I'm gonna build you one. And my promise to you and to your sons and to all of Israel is unconditional, which means that when you and your family and Israel fails to keep your promises to me, I'm still gonna keep mine to you. I'm gonna put my spirit permanently into you and I'm gonna send a Messiah who is gonna die for all your sins and through him, I'm gonna give you a forever kingdom. David's response to that, do you remember chapter 7?

What was his first response? Worship. In 2 Samuel 9, we're gonna see the second part of his response and it is the most natural, distinctive response in the world to receiving extravagant generosity. David says, find me somebody.

You gotta find me somebody to whom I can show extravagant grace like this. Who does David set his attention on? Mephibosheth. This is a current enemy from nowhere who many regard to be useless and cursed by God that David invites to sit at his table like he is one of the king's sons. And the word that David uses for the kindness he wants to show Mephibosheth is the word chesed, which means unconditional love, covenant love, the kind of love that God had shown to David.

Do you have any Mephibosheth-type relationships in your life? Were you just in response to feeling so loved by Jesus? You have to do something radically generous. Let me explain a few places where I've seen people in our church respond like this. Adoption. That is literally what David does in this story. He adopts into his family a special needs teenager.

A lot of the couples I know at our church who have adopted say they did so because it just felt like a fitting response to the gospel. Here's an orphan child, sometimes with a lot of personal challenges, but isn't that what God did with us, they say? Maybe your Mephibosheth application will come in the form of leverage your talents for God's kingdom instead of using your talents just to make money. You'll invest them in leading God's church. I know that you've heard the opposite of that your entire life and everybody's told you you're so smart and you're so gifted and you've got to go make money with this and become something. You guys understand the ministry is not just for those who can't make it in the business world. I don't say that with any personal insecurity. I'm just saying that God deserves our greatest minds and our greatest leaders. Amen?

He deserves the ones at the top of their classes and the ones who are the best in their fields. Isn't the church of Jesus worthy of that? And yet we're always telling them, oh no if you got this talent you do this and if you can't do that well then you consider this over here. And of course full-time ministry is not the only way to serve the kingdom of God of course. Some of you need to get good in the so-called secular world and then use that for the kingdom. In fact we got a guy in our church who's here one of our previous services who is a medical doctor at one of our universities here. One of the top guys in his field in the nation tells me that every year there's this doctor's cohort in Asia, several hundred doctors, that brings him out to lecture on behalf of his university on the latest trends in his field. He says, doctors from Asia, all around Asia, come. He says, Buddhists, Muslims, atheists, they come to hear me lecture for a week.

He says, I always open the week explaining how Jesus transformed my life and how the gospel now shapes my view of medicine. I was like, is your university okay with that? Because I know your university and I think they're definitely not okay with that. He said, well, they're probably not crazy about it.

Then he gets this twinkle in his eye and he says, what can they do about it? I'm one of the top three guys in the country in my field. So now I'm not going to say anything.

He actually gave me permission to use this story as long as I gave the accurate score of the game last night. So that might give you a clue as to where he's connected there. Maybe your Mephibosheth application will be to take your talents and go live in an unreached people group or go on one of our church planting teams. Every single morning, I pray through this. It's called the Joshua Project Unreached People Group. This morning, every day, a different people group with little to no access to the gospel. Today, it is the Kashmiri in Pakistan, a people group with 1.3 million people in it without a single known Christian. I read that in the morning and I think, who's going to reach those people?

Who's going to go tell those people? I want to be clear. Living in a place like that is hard. It is costly. The warm fuzzies and all the novelty and, isn't it cool that I'm going to miss you?

That wears off super fast. But here's the question. Isn't our Jonathan worthy of that? Why don't you think of the words of C.T.

Studd here, who I tell you guys about a lot. He's arguably Great Britain's most famous professional athlete of the late 19th century who walked away from the most lucrative professional athletic career to live in an unreached people group. When he was asked why, as he often was, he said, easy, if Jesus Christ is God and he died for me, then there's no sacrifice for him that is too great.

Or David Livingston, whose story I shared with you last week, who would have been very successful as a doctor in Great Britain, would have been fabulously wealthy but gave his life to medical mission work in Africa. People asked him, David Livingston, do you ever regret the sacrifice that you made? He very famously said, sacrifice? I never made a sacrifice. Let's not talk about sacrifice. Jesus died for me. That was a sacrifice. Using my talents to tell other people about him, that's an honor and a privilege. Some of you parents have to consider whether you're going to let your kids go into this. I will tell you, as a pastor now of, what, 22 years? More often than not, it is the kid willing to go and the parents who are resisting. No, no, no. My kid is too talented.

They're not doing that. My mom, who is one of the godliest people I've ever known… I remember she loved missions. She loved evangelism.

But, yes, it's a struggle. When I told her this, I think God has called me to be a missionary. I remember her saying… She just acknowledged. She said, I'm struggling, because I always thought that God had made you talented at all these things.

He made you talented at… I always thought that you would use it for this and that. She said, God has done a work on my heart, and I realized that if God wants to take whatever he's given you and he wants to use it so that he can bury you somewhere overseas where I rarely see you again, then I know that's what I've got to let him do, because Jesus is worth it. Maybe you're a Mephibosheth who's going to come in the form of a great act of forgiveness, forgiving somebody who's hurt you deeply. It doesn't make sense. People can't believe that you would even consider forgiving that person. They'd say, that person is not worthy of your forgiveness, but you're not doing it for that person's sake.

You're doing it for Jesus' sake. Listen to this. October of 2006, a lone gunman took hostages in a one-room schoolhouse in an Amish community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Some of you are old enough to remember this. After shooting 10 victims, 10 of those Amish children, 5 of whom died, the gunman turned the gun on himself and killed himself. Within hours after the murders, members of the Amish community had gotten in their little buggies and visited the killer's parents and then his widowed wife and their children and expressed sympathy for their loss and offered support for the hard days that those kids whose dad had killed everybody and that wife whose husband had killed everybody and those parents whose son had killed everybody, they expressed their sympathy for the hard days they knew they faced ahead. When the gunman was buried a few days later, his young widow and her three children were amazed to discover that over half of those attending the funeral were Amish who showed nothing but support and concern for the murderer's family. The forgiveness and love shown by the Amish community became the talk of the entire country.

Some of you, again, you're old enough to remember this. It was so powerful, in fact, that a group of sociologists published a book, a study of this whole incident. One of their main conclusions, listen, was that our secular culture, this is not Christians writing this, these were secular sociologists. Our secular culture, they said, is unable to produce people who can handle suffering and offer forgiveness the way the Amish in this community did. There are a lot of pundits across the country, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, that tried to claim that the Amish's startling love represented the best in us.

These sociologists argued that that was naive. They argued that the Amish's ability to forgive was based on one primary thing. I quote, At the heart of their faith was a man dying for his enemies and dying for them. If you or a member of a community that speaks and sings about this, rehearses it, and celebrates it constantly, then the practice of forgiving even the murderers of one's children will not seem impossible. Most of us have been formed by a culture that nourishes revenge and mocks grace, the authors conclude. And Tim Keller says they're right, and they're unable to produce that kind of forgiveness.

Christians have an unusual capacity to forgive, and it's because we do it for Jonathan's sake. Thanks for joining us today for Summit Life with Pastor JD Greer. We'll get back to today's teaching soon, but first, did you know that each month we offer a special featured resource for all of our gospel partners and financial supporters?

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You can also give your gift online at jdgrier.com. Now let's get back to today's teaching on Summit Life. Once again, here's Pastor JD. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. That person you're forgiving may not be worthy of your forgiveness, but Jesus is. Y'all, listen, maybe your mephibosheth will not be as grandiose as any of these.

I've told you some amazing, mind-blowing stories. Maybe it's not gonna be grandiose. Maybe it's just forgiving your spouse again and again for their thoughtlessness. Maybe they're way past the point of deserving it, but you're not thinking as much about what they deserve. You're thinking about what the Jesus who stands behind them deserves. And through their thoughtlessness and through their selfishness, and they don't deserve your forgiveness, you're saying, I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for him.

By the way, I always hasten to add this. I do not mean letting yourself be trampled on in marriage. That is not helping you or them. If you are being trampled on or abused or taken advantage of, go see a counselor.

They can help you work through a healthy way to respond to your spouse. Maybe your generosity will not come in the form of some big, humongous financial gift, that giving only 90%. Maybe it's just gonna be you simply giving consistently, faithfully, sacrificially, month by month, adjusting your lifestyle so that God always gets your first and your best.

Maybe your Mephibosheth application is gonna show up simply in how you tip your waiter or waitress this afternoon to bring it down to the very mundane. I know a guy in our church who is extremely generous when he tips, and he's not even super wealthy. It's not like he's got excess cash.

He's on a very tight budget. He's always really on the high side. When I commented on it one day and I asked him why he did it, he just smiled and said, Well, Jesus was really generous to me.

It just feels right. Danny Aiken, who's president over at Southeastern Seminary here in Wake Forest, tells a story about eating in a restaurant one Sunday. Asking the waitress, he just tried to make conversation with her. He said, Well, how's it going? She immediately barked back, Well, it's Sunday.

Horse day of the week to work. He thought she was just complaining about having to work on Sunday, but then she said, You know, all these Christians coming in after church said they're so rude and condescending. Then he said she pulled out a little four spiritual laws tract out of her apron, and she said, That table right over there? They left me this. No tip, but this.

I get lots of these on Sundays. She said, It's all about God's love, but this won't feed my kids. Listen, I don't pull the pastoral authority card often, but if you go to a restaurant and you use one of those little summit pins, do not put down a penny less than 20 percent.

You get that? Okay, not a penny less than 20 percent. I'm telling you, it really ought to be closer to 25 percent. It's not going to make any real difference to you, but it's going to make a huge difference to them. Do it for Jonathan. Even if the waitress or waiter is bad, sometimes I leave a big tip because I know, Well, Jesus was generous to me when I didn't deserve it. Maybe I can give this waiter or waitress a little glimpse of that, because obviously they're having a hard day. By the way, I did that one time.

This waitress in particular was a jerk. My first inclination was to leave her nothing, because that's what I thought she deserved. I sensed the Lord in my spirit saying, Don't do that.

Don't do that. So I did the opposite. I left her like 30, 35 percent tip. She followed me out to the parking lot. She said, Why did you do that?

Because she and I both knew she did not deserve it. I said, Well, Jesus was super generous to me, and I want to do that for you. You said, Well, that's impractical.

I mean, literally, the entire capitalist system would implode on itself if we did that. I'm just telling you, if Jesus went into a restaurant, I'm pretty convinced that even there, he would go there not to be served but to serve. He said, Well, if I do this in every situation, in every business dealing, how am I supposed to do this? I'm not saying you do that in every business situation.

I'm not saying that. The point is those who have experienced the generosity of the gospel can't help but demonstrate it somewhere. It's like they just got to find an outlet to be generous with somebody somewhere. Let me get you to write something down right now that is at the core of this Mephibosheth principle. Write this down. Do for the one what you wish you could do for the many. Do for the one what you wish you could do for the many.

I'm not sure who said that first, but it's an amazing principle. Do for the one what you wish you could do for the many. You cannot show this kind of extravagance to everybody.

David could not invite every person in the kingdom without a family to come and sit at his table as one of his sons. Do for the one what you wish you could do for the many. Here's the question. Who is it for you?

Do you have Mephibosheth relationships in your life? By the way, here's one more. Maybe you could volunteer to serve our Grace Kids Ministry, a ministry we have to kids with special needs here. That would be a great way to apply this message. The point of this message, like the one last week, is really simple. Those who believe the gospel can't help but become like the gospel. David became radically generous toward Mephibosheth in chapter 9 because God had been radically generous toward David in chapter 7. Until you see yourself as the recipient of the generosity of chapter 7, you'll never develop the generosity of chapter 9.

Sometimes we read stories like these and we try to apply them way too quickly. We read a story like this, like, well, I should be generous like David. But David didn't just up and decide to become generous. He became generous in response to God's lavish generosity toward him. Listen, you will never become generous like David in this story until you first see that you sat in the chair of Mephibosheth. You were God's enemy.

Helpless. A dead dog. Nobody's ever called you that spiritually, but that's what this story is calling you. You were a dead dog, dead in your trespasses and sins, when Christ died for you.

While you were still his enemy. Romans 5 tells you Christ died for you. And in response to that, you've got to find your fontine. You've got to find your causette.

You've got to find a Mephibosheth. You've got to figure out somewhere that you can break open that alabaster jar of perfume on somebody's feet. Only the generosity of Christ towards you produces a generosity of spirit in you. In fact, I think we can pretty safely say this. The depth of your instinct for generosity is the measure of your understanding of the gospel. Well, y'all, I really, really, really, really wanted to end this today around the Lord's table. Communion. Because that is literally the representation of us being invited to sit at our King's table. As a family.

I thought that was the perfect way to end this message. But y'all are not going to believe this. The company whose supplies are bread and cup is having supply line problems and could not get us the supplies in time. I even called some of my pastor buddies around the country to borrow some from them, and they're all dealing with the same thing. This is something I feel certain the apostles never had to deal with in ministry. I tried to get our teams to let me do this little pass the bread and everybody pinch off a bit and then dip it or drink from one big silver chalice, but COVID, flu season, whatever.

They wouldn't let me do it. So what we're going to do is we're going to walk through the Lord's table. We're going to celebrate communion. We're just going to do it without the elements. Is that okay? I know it's weird, but we're going to do it. We're just going to pretend we have them. Because the Lord understands the supply line problems.

Think of this as the 21 days of prayer and fasting communion. Okay? Fair? I want you to bow your heads, if you would. Normally at this point, I would tell you to take out the bread. What I would say to you is, I want you to think for a moment how you are Mephibosheth. I want you to look around this table with saints and sons and daughters of the King, the angels in heaven.

And I want you to sit there and I want you to know that you were a former enemy, a treasonous traitor, a spreader of shame, a nothing from nowhere, spiritually crippled. And yet, and yet here you are, invited. By the way, Christians, as you're thinking about this, let me ask some of you that may be our guest here. Have you ever personally received this invitation?

You can't get born into it. You don't just go to church and that makes you a Christian, no, you have to personally receive it. It's an invitation. David gave him a Mephibosheth, an invitation. He had to personally receive it. It's a gift. Do you need to be reconciled to God?

Have you ever personally received the invitation? If you're not sure, why don't you say this right now with your head bowed. If you're not sure, say, Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner who needs to be saved.

And I believe Jesus died for my sins. Right now, where you sit, say, I accept your invitation to become your child. I take my seat at this table. I surrender to you as Lord. By the way, if you know you've made that decision, could you just rejoice for a moment right now?

Just sit in your seat. We're not singing yet, but just rejoice. Maybe meditate on a verse like this one. 1 John 3, 1, behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God. Maybe right now you're thinking about your sin.

Maybe you're thinking about how little you deserve to be here. 1 John 1, 9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Friend, you belong at this table, because he made you belong. At this point, I tell you to break the bread, and I remind you there is no condemnation toward those of you that are in Christ Jesus. God has removed your sin as far as the east is from the west. No weapon formed against you will prosper. All those who rise up against you shall fall. He that dwells in the secret place of the most high, he's going to bite under the shadow of the Almighty. Though a thousand fall at your side, the danger will not come near you. Now, if your heads bowed, I want you to ask, with a cup in your hand, a cup in my hand on your behalf, who is a Mephibosheth that you can pour out generosity on?

At this point, I would tell you to take the cup. Jesus said, drink it. Whenever you do it, I want you to remember me. I hope you were encouraged by this story of grace, grace that David showed because of the grace he had received. This is Summit Life, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor JD Greer. If you missed any part of our teaching today or just want to catch up on any part of our Life of David study, you can always listen for free at jdgreer.com.

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Or you can visit us online at jdgrier.com. I'm Molly Vidovitch. I hope you'll join us tomorrow as we head to an important message called Sexual Sin, Broken Trust, and Disappointed Hopes. We'll see you Tuesday on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries.