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!
ITS LIKE THAT PERSON WHO ASKS YOU HOW ARE YOU DOING, & WHEN YOU START TO TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR TROUBLES, THEY TUNE YOU OUT AND WALK AWAY! THEY AREN’T CONCERNED ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL, OR WHAT YOUR GOING THROUGH, BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE JUST DON’T CARE!!!
BUT I HEARD JESUS SAY Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I WISH I HAD SOMEBODY WHO KNOWS THAT YOU CAN CAST ALL YOUR CARES UPON JESUS BECAUSE HE CARES FOR YOU! SOMEBODY WHO KNOWS THAT JESUS IS ABLE TO PICK YOU UP FROM WHERE YOU ARE AND SET YOU HIGH UPON A SOLID ROCK! I WISH I HAD SOMEBODY IN THIS PLACE THAT KNOWS: THAT IF YOU, Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
JOSEPH KNEW WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO GO FROM THE PIT TO THE PALACE, FROM THE PALACE TO PRISON, FROM THE PRISON TO THE CASTLE!
THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL KNEW WHAT IT WAS TO GO FROM BONDAGE OF SLAVERY TO THE SPLENDOR OF THE PROMISED LAND!
WORLD RENOWNED PREACHER, TEACHER, LEADER, AND SENATOR, DR. FLOYD FLAKE, AUTHOR OF WAY OF THE BOOTSTRAPPER & PASTOR OF ONE OF THE COUNTRIES LARGEST A.M.E. CHURCHES KNEW WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO GROW UP DIRT POOR, ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS, OF THE WRONG COLOR, SUFFERED THROUGH DEGENERATING PREJUDICE, TOLD HE WOULD NEVER AMOUNT OT NOTHING, DECIDED HE WOULD HOLD ON TO GOD’S UNCHANGING HAND, SHUN THE LIES OF THE DEVIL AND LET GOD LEAD HIM INTO A NEW LIFE!
BUT, MOST PEOPLE WOULD RATHER STAY WHERE THEY HAVE BECOME COMFORTABLE! IN LODEBAR.
LODEBAR DOESN’T ALWAYS INHABIT JUST THE POOR. IT IS NOT ALWAYS A PHYSICAL PLACE, BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE DISENFRANCHISED RIGHT IN THE CENTER OF MIDDLE & UPPER CLASS USA.
MORE THAN WE MIGHT THINK, PEOPLE ARE MESSED UP ON THE INSIDE & LOOKING LIKE EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT ON THE SURFACE & THE ONE SITTING NEXT TO YOU JUST MIGHT FIT THAT MOLD!
*ASK YOUR NEIGHBOR ARE THEY ALRIGHT TODAY?!
BECAUSE YOU SEE: SOMEBODY MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABUSED AS A CHILD, OR MOLESTED,
SOMEBODY MIGHT BE: BATTLING HOMOSEXUALITY, DRUG ADDICTION, ALCOHOL ADDICTION, ADULTERY, ACUTE DEPRESSION, SOMETHING THAT HAS AFFECTED THE MIND, SOMETHING THAT CAUSES THEM TO NOT SLEEP AT NIGHT, SOMETHING THAT HAS CRIPPLED THEM FROM BEING WHO GOD INTENDED THEM TO BE, SOMETHING THAT KEEPS THEM MISERABLE, UNHAPPY, FRUSTRATED, ALWAYS MOODY, FULL OF ANGER, JEALOUSY, SOMETHING THAT HAS THEM LIVING IN A PSYCHOLOGICAL PRISON THAT SEEMS TO HAVE NO WAY OF ESCAPE!
THEY CAN’T TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT, BECAUSE THEY ARE ASHAMED, EMBARRASSED & WORRIED THAT YOU MIGHT NOT UNDERSTAND & TALK ABOUT THEM.
CHURCH FOLK LIKE TO PUT EACH OTHER DOWN, AS IF EVERYBODY IN THE CHURCH IS PERFECT & IS SUPPOSE TO BE PERFECT. WHEREAS THE CHURCH IS SUPPOSE TO BE THE HOSPITAL WHERE PEOPLE COME TO GET FIXED UP, NOT BEAT UP!!!
DID YOU KNOW THAT WORLD RENOWNED GOSPEL SINGING SENSATION DONNIE McKURKLIN HAS SUFFERED THROUGH HOMOSEXUALITY? DID YOU KNOW THAT I KNOW PASTORS THAT USE TO BE DRUG DEALERS, ADULTEROUS, PIMPS, ETC.
HAVE YOU EVER REALIZE THAT YOU HAVE PROBABLY SAT NEXT TO SOMEBODY THAT GOT BEAT UP BEFORE THEY CAME TO CHURCH, SOMEBODY THAT IS AFRAID OF THEIR OWN CHILD WHEN THEY GO HOME, SOMEBODY THAT CAN’T GET OVER BEING ABUSED AS A CHILD, SOMEBODY THAT IS ABUSING THEIR CHILD, SOMEBODY THAT IS ON PAXEL, REDILIN, ETC. DON’T YOU KNOW THAT THE CHURCH IS FULL OF PEOPLE FROM LODEBAR, LIVING IN LODEBAR! I HEARD PAUL SAY But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
WE ARE AFRAID!
PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO COME UP OUT OF LODEBAR & AFRAID TO ASK FOR SOME HELP. PEOPLE ARE WORRIED THAT THEY WILL GET PUT DOWN, TALKED ABOUT, & INSULTED! FEAR, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE KEEPS US DOWN!
ISN’T IT STRANGE WHAT WE ARE AFRAID OF? I MEAN WE FEAR REJECTION, FEAR FAILURE, FEAR OTHER PEOPLE, BUT WE DON’T FEAR GOD! EVEN THOUGH JESUS SAID Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
WE’LL HIDE OUR FAITH SO WE DON’T OFFEND PEOPLE; STEAL BECAUSE WE ARE TOO ASHAMED TO ASK; WE’LL LIE TO SAVE EMBARRASSMENT; WE’LL
KING DAVID SAYS, DON’T BE AFRAID!
YOU SEE IN THOSE DAYS IT WAS CUSTOMARY & NECESSARY THAT WHEN ONE KING WAS OVERTHROWN HIS ENTIRE FAMILY WAS KILLED OFF TO KEEP FROM A FUTURE UPRISING OCCURRING. NOW, MEPHIBOSHETH HAD BEEN HIDING OUT FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG AND HE WAS DISCOVERED & THOUGHT IT WAS TIME TO DIE. BUT TO HIS DISMAY, HE WAS BEING OFFERED A PLACE AT THE KINGS TABLE, A NEW HOME, NEW LAND, & A NEW LIFE.
BUT HE DIDN’T THINK HE DESERVED WHAT HE WAS BEING OFFERED! WHY A DEAD DOG LIKE ME?
MEPHIBOSHETH’S REPLY TO THE KING’S OFFER WAS JUST LIKE MOST PEOPLE. WHY SOMEBODY LIKE ME? I AM NOTHING, COME FROM NOTHING, AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN TELLING ME ALL MY LIFE. I WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO NOTHING, I’M CRIPPLED, CAN’T WORK, CAN’T EVEN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF LET ALONE SOMEBODY ELSE. NOBODY HAS EVER CARED ABOUT ME, MOST PEOPLE DON’T EVEN KNOW I EXIST….. WHY DO YOU WANT TO DO ANYTHING FOR SOMEBODY LIKE ME, A DEAD DOG!!!
AND TRUTH BE TOLD NONE OF US DESERVE WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US OR ANYTHING THAT HE WANTS TO GIVE US! WE SHOULD HAVE DIED A LONG TIME AGO! CAR CRASH; DRUGS; LUSTS; CRIME; ANGER;
BUT, WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW TODAY IS THAT THE KING, NOT DAVID, JESUS WANTS TO BRING EVERYBODY UP OUT OF LODEBAR AND HAVE US EATING AS HIS TABLE! HE WANTS TO HEAL THE BROKEN, LIFT UP THE DOWN TRODDEN, SET FREE THE ADDICT, GIVE HOPE TO THE HOPELESS, GIVE JOY TO THE JOYLESS, GIVE LIFE TO THE LIFELESS, ELEVATE THE DEPRESSED, BUILD UP THE ONE WITH NO CONFIDENCE, OPEN DOORS FOR THE JOBLESS, PROVIDE SHELTER FOR THE SHELTER LESS….. BE A HUSBAND TO THE ONE WHO HAS NO MAN, A WIFE TO THE ONE WHO HAS NO WOMAN….
HE WANTS EVERYBODY TO COME UP OUT OF WHAT EVER IS HOLDING THEM DOWN & WALK IN THE NEWNESS OF LIFE THAT CAN ONLY COME THROUGH HIM!
COME WITH ALL YOUR DYSFUNCTIONS, DISABILITIES, INADEQUACIES, HEARTACHES, BURDENS & PAINS AND I WILL BEAR THEM ALL!
ROMANS 5:6-10 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
YOU MAY FEEL LIKE YOU DON’T HAVE THE STRENGTH AND THE COURAGE BUT...He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
DON’T YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD THAT CAN SOOTH YOUR HURTING SOUL! FIGHTS PAIN BETTER THAN TYLENOL; CLEANSES BETTER THAN METAMUCIL;
HIS NAME IS JESUS!! JESUS!! THE KING OF KINGS, THE LORD OF LORDS!
HE WANTS TO RESTORE TO YOU THE YEARS THAT THE LOCUST HAVE EATEN!
HE WILL ENABLE YOU TO GO INTO THE ENEMY’S CAMP & TAKE BACK WHAT HE STOLE FROM YOU!
GOD HAS SAID Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
AND HE HAS MADE A WAY FOR YOU IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT WHAT CHRIST HAS ALREADY DONE FOR YOU!
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
JESUS PROCLAMED:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." JESUS’ MINISTRY WAS ABOUT BRINGING PEOPLE OUT OF LODEBAR! HEALING, SETTING FREE, GIVING SIGHT, OPENING DOORS, LIFTING UP, REGARDLESS OF WHO THEY WERE, REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN, REGARDLESS OF THEIR RACE, REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN TOLD, REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH THEY HAVE DONE WRONG, REGARDLESS OF ANY STIPULATION THAT SOCIETY WOULD CONSIDER HOPELESS AND HELPLESS, JESUS SAID COME UNTO ME!
