UNLIKELY - Your Place at the King’s Table
John 3:7-8 MsgB
“So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.”
Introduction: UNLIKELY PLACES - This morning we are going to focus on the story of an individual who some today might say he has no quality of life. Due to unexpected tragedy maybe we should just put an end to his suffering. Yet God values even the broken life. The Lord will take us from the ash heap of society to an unlikely place; let’s discover “Your Place at the King’s Table.”
God has a place for the unlikely; the wind of the Spirit will blow us into surprising places to accomplish His purpose in our lives.
The “PNEUMA” quickens us to be “born again” or “born from above.”
Nicodemus found himself surprised by the place God brought him. Nicodemus thought he was good with God. He struggled to understand the God wanted him to be born again. Jesus explained this spiritual rebirth as being of the Spirit - the wind or breath of God.
Nicodemus was surprised, and yet he knew some things that we don’t. Jesus is trying to help Nicodemus understand God’s creative work in the life of an individual - a work done by God, but specifically by the Spirit or Spirit of God:
The Greek word PNEUMA is translated as both WIND and SPIRIT.
Nicodemus understood this word play because it works the same way with the Hebrew word RAUCH. Rauch likewise is translated as both wind, breath and spirit. Here is what Nicodemus understood:
The wind follows a prescribed path - we don’t know the path the wind follows, but the wind does not deviate from the path determined for it to follow. The wind blows bringing the changing seasons; it accomplishes its purpose along it’s prescribed path.
The prescribed path of the wind likewise illustrates the idea behind rauch also meaning BREATH. Every breath we take follows the path of being inhaled and exhaled. Our breath follows this path without deviation and without our conscious thought; breath moves in and out according to the prescribed path giving us life.
Similarly, the spirit is the breath of a person following the prescribed path or purpose to breathe out the life and creativity within the individual. In the same way the wind is invisible but brings the changing of the seasons, so too the invisible spirit within an individual accomplishes the desires or purposes within the person. Therefore, the Holy Spirit breaths into our lives to fulfill God’s creative purpose in our lives.
Jesus wanted Nicodemus to remember the creative power of God’s Spirit.
Genesis 1:1-2 NIV
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Job 33:4 NIV
The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Nicodemus recognized the “pneuma” (wind/spirit) as the Spirit of God because God and the Spirit, are an unbreakable unity. They are ONE.
Therefore, when Jesus tells Nicodemus no one enters the kingdom of God unless they have been born of the Spirit - the rauch or pneuma - Nicodemus rightly understands the Spirit to be the Spirit of God.
Notice how Jesus connects the Spirit of God and kingdom of God in
Matthew 12:26 NIV
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
The Spirit of God or Pneuma brings us into the kingdom of God. Just as the winds continue to blow day after day following the prescribed path God has determined for it, the Spirit will come again and again into our lives- sometimes as a gentle breeze and at other times like a gusting hurricane to accomplish God’s creative purpose.
Will we yield to the Holy Spirit, or will we push back against the wind to resist the Lord?
God’s Spirit has brought us to an unlikely place: because we have been born from above so that the Spirit has brought us into the kingdom of God, you and I also have an invitation to sit at the King’s table.
An unlikely and perhaps unfamiliar bible story illustrates not only the place God wants to bring each of us, but also how the Lord wants to use each of us to bring others to the King’s table. Turn to 2 Samuel 9.
This is the story of Mephibosheth. He was the son of Jonathan, the grandson to King Saul. The nation of Israel was at war and news came from the front line that both King Saul and Jonathan had been killed. As King Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth at the age of 5 was next in line to be king. However, David had been anointed as king which naturally infuriated Saul - this led to the war between the house of Saul and the house of David. Although David had twice spared King Saul’s life and was not responsible for the king’s death because David refused to lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed, Mephibosheth’s nurse feared for the child’s life. She picked him up to carry him away to safety, but as she ran the child fell and as a result became a cripple.
Years pass. David is established as king in Jerusalem, and Mephibosheth is living out in the country in someone else's home. David has everything. Mephibosheth has nothing.
2 Samuel 9
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 summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“At your service,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from 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 lame in both feet.”
Read between the lines and understand what’s happening. Ziba was a servant to King Saul, and when he is called before King David he would be fearful for his life. Is David establishing his throne by killing anyone who had been aligned with Saul? So Ziba now identifies himself as David’s servant. David then asks an interesting question: “Is there anyone still living from Saul’s family that he can honor?” Ziba acknowledges there is one, but notice how Ziba protects Saul’s grandson - he does not identify him by name and he tells David that Jonathan’s son is lame in both feet. Ziba wants to be sure David not only knows Mephibosheth is not a threat, but Saul’s only living heir is the son of David’s beloved friend Jonathan.
4 “Where is he?” the king asked.
Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir . . .”
5 So King David had him brought from . . . the house of Makir. . .
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, “Mephibosheth!”
“At your service,” he replied.
7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him,
David’s first words were to put Mephibosheth at peace. Like Ziba Mephibosheth had the same fear being called before the king - David wants to have me killed so I don’t rise up to take his place as king. But David says, “Don’t be afraid.” But David doesn’t stop there:
“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 steward, 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 Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.
Have you figured out what’s significant about this story? You and I are Mephibosheth!
The wind of the Holy Spirit has blown into our lives and brought us to an unlikely place. We are invited to the King’s table!
What lessons can we learn from the story of Mephibosheth?
We have all fallen and are broken by sin.
Mephibosheth was a cripple because he fell when his nurse took him to hide from anyone who might want to kill him after they had been told of his father Jonathan’s and King Saul’s death.
We are born into sin and iniquity - we’re broken at birth.
Psalm 51:3, 5
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. . .
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.
Ephesians 2:1
you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
Like Mephibosheth we are fallen and broken, but I’m glad the story does not end there. GOD HAS A PLACE FOR THE UNLIKELY!
We are all pursued by the King.
Mephibosheth was sought out by King David. David was not insecure and looking for any potential rivals to his throne. David made a covenant with King Saul’s son Jonathan, a covenant relationship that David honored even after Jonathan’s death. David was looking for someone from King Saul’s family he could bless because of his love for Jonathan.
Isaiah 62:11-12
11 The LORD has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’ ” 12 They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.
The world labeled Mephibosheth a cripple; he’s handicapped. What have you been called? They have said you’re worthless and won’t amount to anything. You’re stupid. You’re ugly. You’re a jerk. You’re an outsider; you don’t belong. The world has lots of names for us, but God has given us a new name: WE ARE THE SOUGHT AFTER. Because we have been pursued by the king we are no longer an outsider; we belong!
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Like Mephibosheth we have been pursued not just by a king, but by the King of kings; God has sought us out!
We have been welcomed to the King’s table.
Mephibosheth was treated as one of David’s sons and ate daily from the king’s table.
1 John 3:1
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
God has sought us out, and when we are found by Him, the love of the Lord is lavished upon us. In the same way David told Mephibosheth not to be afraid, God assures us we are accepted. The Lord did not seek us out to abort our lives or annihilate us; instead God comes with His great love to adopt us as His own children.
1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
God has found us and brought us out of darkness and into the light; therefore we no longer walk in sin but in His righteousness. THEREFORE WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER! Like Mephibosheth we are welcomed to eat with the King at His table. Sharing a meal together is a sign or a remembrance of the covenant relationship we have entered into with God. He sought us and having found us God has cleaned us of our sin and welcomed us to His table. But that’s not all:
We have been given an abundance to share with others.
Mephibosheth was not only brought to share at King David’s table, but David also restored the land that had belonged to his father and grandfather. Ziba together with his sons and their servants (36 men together with their families) were to take care of the land to provide for Mephibosheth. But wait a minute, Mephibosheth didn’t need this; David provided for him by giving him a home and welcoming him to eat at the king’s table. DAVID’S PROVISION FOR MEPHIBOSHETH WAS AN ABUNDANCE THAT WAS SHARED WITH THE SERVANTS OF SAUL.
Jesus told His disciples - Matthew 10:7-8
7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
1 John 3:16-18
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Like Mephibosheth our King has more than met our needs; God has lavished His love upon us. If God’s love is in us, then we must also give His love to one another.
We are all fallen and broken by sin.
We are all pushed by the King.
We have been welcomed to the King’s table.
We have been given an abundance to share with others.
What is the Holy Spirit Saying to YOU today? As God gives you ears to hear and eyes to see will we now allow Him to transform our heart and empower us to respond in obedience to Him?
We have fallen and are broken by sin, yet we are pursued by the King. Is God wanting to breathe the breath of life into your soul so you might be “born from above?”
What keeps you from feeling welcomed at the King’s table? Why? In what way is the Lord communicating “Don’t be afraid” and making His acceptance known to you?
How does God want to use you like Saul’s servant Ziba to pursue those who are still separated from Him so they might be welcomed to the King’s table and share in His abundance?
Sanctity of Human Life Sunday
“Why I hate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.”
Don’t get me wrong, the call to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ is a joy. Nothing is more thrilling than opening the Word of God to the people of Christ week-by-week. But it provokes my spirit to preach the Sanctity of Human Life (SOHL) emphasis on a Sunday morning.
I don't hate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday because I think it, somehow, unbiblical. No, indeed. The entire canon throbs with God's commitment to the fatherless and to the widows, his wrath at the shedding of innocent blood. I don't hate it because I think it's inappropriate. Just as every Lord's Day should be Easter, with the proclamation of the Resurrection of Jesus, and Christmas, with the announcement of the Incarnation, so every Lord's Day should highlight the worth and dignity of human life.
I hate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday because I'm reminded that we have to say things to one another that human beings shouldn't have to say.
• Mothers shouldn't kill their children.
• Fathers shouldn't abandon their babies.
• No human life is worthless, regardless of skin color, age, disability, economic status.
The very fact that these things must be proclaimed is a reminder of the horrors of this present darkness.
We are all made in the image of God.
The Sanctity of Human Life is not an event - it is our world view.
PRAYER
