Alone, But Not Forgotten

ALONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN II

II Samuel 9:1-13 MAY 19,2002

INTRODUCTION: MANY PEOPLE LIVE IN A STATE OF LONELINESS. PEOPLE WHO ARE BY THEMSELVES, OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM OF SOCIETY WITH NO SOCIAL ACTIVITY OR FRIENDSHIPS OUTSIDE THEMSELVES. THERE ARE A GREAT MANY OTHERS WHO LIVE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF LIFE’S HUSTLE & BUSTLE THAT FIND THEMSELVES ALONE, DISLOCATED & MISUNDERSTOOD. BOTH PHYSICALLY & PSYCHOLOGICALLY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN, ARE AND WILL BE ALONE! FROM THE THOUSANDS OF ORPHANS TO THE MEGA-STAR SURROUNDED BY THOUSANDS; FROM THE HOMELESS TO THE STRUGGLING SINGLE MOTHER, PEOPLE ARE ALONE, DISTRESSED, DEPRESSED, FORGOTTEN, …. ALONE!

LODEBAR WAS SUCH A PLACE. ITS VERY MEANING IS “NOT HAVING” OR PASTURELESS. IT WAS A TOWN FULL OF FORGOTTEN PEOPLE INCLUDING MEPHIBOSHETH, SON OF DAVID’S BEST FRIEND JONATHAN WHO WAS THE SON OF KING SAUL. IN LODEBAR WE WOULD FIND THE LOST, UNSKILLED, UNEDUCATED CAST OUTS FROM SOCIETY. THOSE WHOM PEOPLE WOULD SCORN AT; THOSE THAT WE WOULD PASS BY AND PAY NO ATTENTION TO; THOSE WHO WOULD BE JUST ANOTHER STATISTIC ON A GOVERNMENT REPORT; THOSE WHO WOULD BE SOME PHD CANDIDATE’S DISSERTATION STUDY.

LODEBAR WAS FULL OF ESTRANGED FOLK WITH NO FAMILY, NO JOBS, POVERTY STRICKEN & BARELY GETTING BY DAY TO DAY. LODEBARE WAS FULL OF RUNAWAYS, STREET PEOPLE, ALL WITH A STORY, ALL WITH A BROKEN PAST, SUCH AS MODERN DAY L.A. WITH ITS OVERPOPULATED STREETS THAT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED BY SOME AS “A MILLION STORIES IN THE NAKED CITY”. LIKEN TO MODERN DAY NEW YORK, WITH ITS MILLIONS LIVING ON THE STREETS, THOUSANDS BELOW POVERTY LEVEL. LIKEN TO MODERN DAY MIAMI, WHERE THOUSANDS ARE DRUG ADDICTS, DRUG DEALERS, CARTEL MEMBERS.

LIKEN TO MODERN DAY PITTSBURGH, WITH IT HUNDREDS OF HOMELESS, THOUSANDS OF ADDICTS, THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN WITH NO HOME, MURDER, CRIME, DISEASE.

LIKEN TO MODERN DAY WASHINGTON & GREEN COUNTY WITH ITS CROWDED WOMEN’S SHELTERS, ABANDONED YOUTH, POOR EDUCATION, LOW JOB ESTABLISHMENTS, RACIAL PROBLEMS, WHERE EVERYBODY HAS A BROKEN STORY TO TELL, SOME MISFORTUNE TO OVERCOME, WE LIVE IN LODEBAR, WE KNOW SOMEBODY IN LODEBAR, WE WALK AROUND, DRIVE AROUND, & IGNORE LODEBAR!!!

INHABITANTS OF LODEBAR ARE NOT THERE OF THEIR OWN FAULT!

MEPHIBOSHETH WAS NOT IN LODEBAR BECAUSE OF HIMSELF, OR SOMETHING HE HAD DONE. WE ARE TOLD THAT HE WAS CRIPPLED IN BOTH FEET. HIS CRIPPLED SITUATION WAS A RESULT OF A DEBILITATING CONSEQUENCE PLACED UPON HIM IN HIS YOUTH AND NOT BY HIMSELF OR VIRTUE OF HIS BIRTH. HE WAS NOT BORN CRIPPLED! II SAMUEL 4:4 TELLS US THAT MEPHIBOSHETH WAS UNDER THE CARE OF A NURSE WHILE HIS FATHER JONATHAN WAS IN BATTLE & WHEN THE WORD CAME THAT JONATHAN & SAUL WERE KILLED, THE NURSE GRABBED MEPHIBOSHETH TO RUN, BUT DROPPED HIM THUS INJURING BOTH OF HIS FEET FOR LIFE. HE WAS ONLY ABOUT FIVE YEARS OLD WHEN THIS HAPPENED & THEN HAD TO SPEND HIS DAYS BEING CARED FOR FROM TIME TO TIME BY SOMEBODY ELSE, OR LIVING OFF OF THE HANDOUTS OF A FEW IN A DETESTABLE, FORGOTTEN PLACE CALLED LODEBAR.

IT WASN’T HIS FAULT HIS FATHER DIED, IT WASN’T HIS FAULT THE NURSE DROPPED HIM; IT WASN’T HIS FAULT THAT THERE WAS NO DOCTOR WHO COULD REPAIR HIS SITUATION; IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT!

IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT YOU WERE MOLESTED AS A CHILD; IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT THAT YOU WERE RAPED; ABUSED-VERBALLY OR PHYSICALLY; IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT YOU HAD NO FATHER, NO MOTHER; IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT THAT YOU HAD TO RAISE YOURSELF, RAISE YOUR PARENTS INSTEAD OF THEM RAISING YOU;

IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT YOUR WERE RAISED IN POVERTY, ON WELFARE & HANDOUTS; IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT NO ONE EVERY GAVE YOU GUIDANCE, PROVIDED YOU WITH A GOOD EDUCATION; INSPIRED YOU; POURED LIFE INTO YOU; BUILT UP SOME CONFIDENCE IN YOU, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT!!!

IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT THEY CLOSED THE BUSINESS DOWN, OR CUT BACK; IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT HOW YOU WERE RAISED; HOW YOU WERE TALKED TO; HOW YOU WERE PREJUDICED AGAINST, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT THAT YOU HAVE LIVED AND NOW LIVE IN A LODEBAR!!!

WE ARE ALWAYS QUICK TO ASSUME THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE IN SITUATIONS WORSE THAN OUR OWN HAVE HAD TO DO SOMETHING WRONG TO GET THAT WAY! I HAVE HEARD PREACHERS SAY THAT THEY DON’T HAVE ENOUGH FAITH, THEY HAVE SINNED & ARE BEING PUNISHED BY GOD---PLEASE! THEY HAVE, WE HAVE RECEIVED SOME UNEXPECTED TURMOIL THAT AT THE TIME THERE SEEMED TO BE NO WAY OUT OF & NO ONE TO HELP & LODEBAR WAS ALL THERE WAS!!! A PLACE TO WALLOW, A PLACE TO SHARE IN EVERYONE ELSE’S PAIN, A PLACE YOU WOULDN’T BE JUDGED, A LODEBAR!!

A PLACE THAT NO ONE WANTS TO ENTER, THAT NO ONE WANTS TO HELP US OUT OF, A PLACE THAT IS OVERLOOKED, SHUNNED OFF AND IGNORED! NOBODY WANTS TO GO THE GHETTO, UNLESS ITS TO GET SOME DRUGS. NO BODY WANT TO GO TO THE HOMELESS SHELTER, UNLESS ITS TO MAKE THEMSELVES FEEL BETTER DOING THEIR LITTLE PART TO HELP OUT; NO BODY WANTS TO GO OUT TO THE POVERTY STRICKEN COUNTRY AREAS, UNLESS ITS TO BUY SOME VEG. ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, NOBODY COMES TO LODEBAR!