GRACE FOR THE CRIPPLED
2 SAMUEL 9: 1-13
INTRODUCTION:
We use the word “grace” in many ways don’t we? We see a ballet dancers as they perform and say, "They move with such grace!" We have TV sitcoms like “Grace Under Fire” in the late 90’s or the present running “Will & Grace.” We sit down to eat a meal and we don’t want to eat before as the title of the Norman Rockwell painting says, “Saying Grace.” I like the title of R. Lofton Hudson’s book, Grace is Not a Blue-Eyed Blonde. And although the word "grace" is used in a number of ways and identifies a multitude of things, it’s most significant meaning lies deep within our relationship with God. And in this incident in the life of David, we have one of scripture’s richest illustrations of that beautiful relationship: God’s grace.
This week we find David as complete monarch of Israel. He has held the throne for over 10 years and has brought all enemies under subjection. During this peaceful interlude he begins to reflect on past promises. He remembers that he had vowed to both his best friend Jonathan & to Jonathan’s father, David’s predecessor King Saul, that he would not cut off their descendants. This is significant because it shows that even though David is successfully establishing the kingdom, he still labors under an intimate, personal concern for those around him. That’s why we see in vs:1- “One day David began wondering if anyone in Saul’s family was still alive, for he had promised Jonathan that he would show kindness to them.”A servant tells him of Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. To the King’s dismay he learns that this young man is subsisting in utter poverty. To make matters worse we learn this about him in 2 Sam. 4:4: “He was five years old when Saul and Jonathan were killed at the battle of Jezreel. When news of the battle reached the capital, the child’s nurse grabbed him and fled. But she fell and dropped him as she was running, and he became crippled as a result.” So David, patterning his heart after God’s, extends acceptance to this handicapped young man. Let’s look at this incident and learn some valuable lessons about the goodness of God.
I. THE SERIOUSNESS OF SIN:
Mephibosheth’s situation was serious. The reason that he was living, as vs:4 tells us, in Lodebar, which literally means "no-pasture" or “desolate,” was not because that’s where he chose to live. He was afraid that if he was discovered that he would be killed because being the grandson of Saul he was a natural heir to the throne and therefore, a threat to David. In fact, in Eastern dynasties, when a new king took over it was common for the new monarch to kill every member of his predecessor’s family. That is exactly why when Jonathan heard that David would succeed his father to the throne that he asked David to spare his descendants. With that in mind it is not hard to picture Mephibosheth hiding in fear of his life. And when he heard that he had been found and was to go to David he probably figured he was going to get exactly what he deserved. He understood all too well how serious a thing it was to be linked by blood to the previous monarchy.
Now, it is important that we understand the gravity of our situation too. Some churches refuse to talk about sin for fear it may be offensive or someone might object. But we believe that we will never fully appreciate the greatness of God’s grace unless we understand the seriousness of our sin. The N.T. tells us what sin has done to everyone of us. (1) We’ve all been contaminated or infected by sin. Romans 3:10-12 clearly tells us that. “There is no one who always does what is right, not even one. There is no one who understands. There is no one who looks to God for help. All have turned away. Together, everyone has become useless. There is no one who does anything good; there is not even one.”(NCV) That does not mean we never do good things, but it means there is no one in this room today that always does right or can earn God’s favor on their own standing. We have all been contaminated by sin. In fact, even the good things that we do sometimes come from impure motives. I preach sermons because I really want people to know about God but I must confess to you that when I preach my ego comes wedging in there. I don’t want to fall on my face out here, I want people to think I’m a good preacher. It’s hard for us as imperfect beings to do anything with absolute pure motives. Isa.64:6 confirms this truth when it says, "We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags." You see before a perfect and holy God we are all impure, no one is good, even the good things we do, compared to Him are like dingy, dirty rags.
And the N.T. makes it clear that we are not only all contaminated by sin but we’ve all been ruined by sin. Romans 6:23 says are "The payment for sin is death.." Death here is both physical, we all die, and spiritual, for the payment for our sin is complete and eternal separation from God. We know that because the rest of the verse compares the payment to God’s gift, “But God’s gift is life eternal.”(GW) But we’ve not only been contaminated and ruined we’ve all been dragged down by sin in this life too. There’s a cartoon where a little boy is taking his St. Bernard for a walk. And in the cartoon you can see that this big dog is dragging this boy in the direction that he doesn’t want to go. He is bracing his feet and pulling on the leash and all the while shouting, "Let’s get one thing straight. You’re my dog, I’m not your boy!” And sin binds, and sin grinds and sin blinds. We think we’ve got it under control and all of a sudden it’s dragging us where we don’t want to go. Because of sin we don’t know real peace & our love ones sometimes can’t escape the horrible consequences of our sin.
The problem is we don’t want to believe sin is that bad. We don’t want to accept that it ruins life and will in the end separate us eternally from God. So we develop clever ways to avoid the truth about sin. For example we formulate euphemisms to make sin sound less ominous. Adultery is an “affair,” living together before marriage is “co-habitation,” getting drunk is “getting a buzz on,” homosexuality is a “gay lifestyle,” swearing is “adult language,” harsh criticism is “problem identification.” But you don’t change the poison in the bottle by changing the label, it’s still as lethal. And no matter what we call sin - it is still just as serious.
We also try to escape the seriousness of sin by comparing ourselves to other people. We say, "Well, I may not be perfect but I’m better than a lot of people I know. In fact, I’m better than a lot of "religious" people I know." The idea is -"If there is a God- He’s going to grade us on the curve and if we are in the upper percentile we don’t have to worry. But Paul says in Rom. 3:20, "Not one person can live perfectly enough to earn God’s approval.."(GW) You might feel pretty good comparing yourself to other people. But when you look into the mirror of God’s Word, you’re convicted of your sin.
And you can see all kinds of signs that people feel guilty & are seeking an escape. Las Vegas now has a call in “Connection Confession” line where people can call and
confess their sins to a recording. America’s first confession line makes it possible, for a fee of $9 per three minutes, to record your sin and if you want to pay a little more you can listen to other people’s sins. Apparently the service is being bombarded by calls (which is why I cropped off the number in this picture.) One of the originators said, "It’s a technological way to get something off your chest without the embarrassment that comes from confessing one on one." But do you know what it really is? Besides a money maker for someone? It’s confession without accountability. And I think it is an indication that people are deep in sin and they desperately want to be cleansed. We all need to recognize the seriousness of our sin. It keeps us from having true contentment, it can ruin life and it promises eternal separation from God.
II. THE GREAT GRACE OF GOD:
But beloved, the good news, no the great news is: while our sin is serious, God’s grace is sufficient. Once again David is a perfect illustration of this. Did you notice that in vs:1 that he asks for anyone to show kindness too? He doesn’t look for someone worthy or qualified but looks for anyone. David’s kindness is unconditional and free. Now David realizes what Mephibosheth must be expecting. For when the grandson of Saul bows at David’s feet the King’s first instructions in vs:7 are "don’t be afraid.." Mephibosheth can’t hardly believe it! Can’t you just hear him? "What? You’re not going to kill me? I deserve nothing. I can’t believe that one as great as you would even notice me!" But not only does David pluck him from the wilderness, look at what else he does. He restores to him all the land that belonged to his grandfather, he gives him servants to farm it and then has him live in the palace as one of the family. Charles Swindoll wrote: "Once Mephibosheth was clothed in the rags of obscurity and fear, now he is draped in the garments of honor and security."
What an analogy to what God has done for us! For we are like Mephibosheth. Without God’s grace we live in the desolation of sin. We know we deserve death but instead God offers us even more than David offered, He offers an eternal inheritance. In fact, in the N.T. God introduced a whole new way of salvation. The old way was: You keep the law perfectly and you’ll be saved but it you sin once, you’ll be lost. Nobody had a chance under the old way. But, the new way is: God has allowed Jesus to pay for our sins and says, “You will be saved if you put your faith, your trust, in Him!” Titus 3:5 - "In the past we also were foolish. We did not obey, we were wrong, and we were slaves to many things our bodies wanted and enjoyed. We spent our lives doing evil and being jealous. People hated us, and we hated each other. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was shown, he saved us because of his mercy."(NCV)
I like the story Paul Little gives to clarify just what God’s great grace has done for us. He says, "Suppose all of us were lined up along the Pacific shore and everybody is told they must swim to Hawaii. Now the Olympic swimmer can swim 20 miles and the doggy paddler can swim 20 feet but the Hawaiian islands are about 2000 miles from the coast. So, everyone is doomed! But let’s say a benevolent Captain of a cruise ship just pulls up along shore and he says, `I’ll give a free cruise ship to Hawaii for anyone that will come on board.’ Whose going to be spared? Whose going to make it to Hawaii? The people who are humble enough to admit that they can’t make it, they need help and they believe the captain and they put their faith in him. You know who would be the most reluctant to do that? The best swimmers. Because they would have to get on board with the doggy paddlers, they’d have to swallow their pride and they’d be tempted to say, "I’m a great swimmer, I can make it on my own." You know who are the hardest people to persuade that they need Jesus? Intelligent people, good moral people. Why? Because they have to admit they can’t swim good enough, they can’t make it on their own, they need a Savior! And they’ve got to get on the same boat as those who may not be as good morally as they. But that’s why the Bible says "All people are the same: All have sinned and fallen short of God’s perfection.."(Rom.3:23 NCV)
That’s why I think it’s important in understanding God’s grace to comprehend the difference between 3 words - Justice - Mercy & Grace. Justice is deserved punishment. Mercy is exemption from punishment, grace is favor when punishment is deserved.
Let me illustrate the difference. Let’s say I’m still a police officer. I arrive at a scene where through your carelessness you’ve jumped the curb, you’ve damaged your car and you’ve knocked down and destroyed a city sign. Now, I survey the scene and you admit that the accident was your fault so I give you a ticket for careless driving, I assign you a court date and I inform you that the city will be in touch with you so that you can pay for a new sign - that’s justice - deserved punishment. But let’s say out of the goodness of my heart I say, "We’ll I know this can happen to anybody and you’ve already got to pay for the damage to your car so I’ll just let it go, no ticket." You’d say, "That’s incredible," but that’s mercy - Exemption from punishment. But let’s say I was really generous and I say, “I’m not giving you a ticket,” not only that, I pull out my check book and write you a check to pay for the full amount of the damage done to your car and further, the check amount covers the damaged sign too. You say, "That’s impossible! (It’s what most officers do right?) That’s grace! Favor, when punishment is deserved.
But that isn’t even a good illustration of God’s grace because God didn’t just give out of his riches. His grace cost Him everything He had. We were redeemed, that is, bought back from our sin by the blood of God’s own Son. In order to give us His grace He had to pay our debt which is death. You see, God is a God of perfect love, of grace but He is also a God of perfect justice and sin must be punished. But instead of sentencing us, Jesus volunteered to undergo that punishment for us. God could of come down and simply said, "Okay, ollie, ollie in free, divine amnesty for everybody," But that wouldn’t of been just. So, by the cross, He punished sin and love was expressed. He was the just and the justifier. That’s why I like the acrostic G-R-A-C-E - God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. And that means that every person who has sinned, and that’s all of us, can be cleansed from sin by putting their faith or trust in Jesus Christ. That’s for anybody! Doesn’t matter how bad you’ve been. Doesn’t matter how unspiritual you feel. God’s grace is for even the worst sinner if they will put their faith in Jesus Christ. You see grace is unfair from a human viewpoint. Justice is fair. Justice says, You’ve got to pay for that sign and you deserve a ticket. But the grace of God is unfair from a human perspective. God is so generous that He will rescue the blackest life from Hell if they will trust in the Lord. Isn’t that incredible? That’s the Great, Amazing, Grace of God.
III. THE REACTION TO OUR RESCUE:
Now, the most important question is how are we going to respond to God’s offer of grace and rescue from punishment? Did you notice Mephibosheth’s reaction to David’s invitation? I think that Ziba told him that the King wanted to show some kindness to him. But it still took a lot of trust on his part to go to the palace. He could of fled, he could of asked for protection from someone or he could of done what his grandfather had done and take his own life. But instead he put his trust in the King. I think being the son of Jonathan, he knew something about David’s character and although he was afraid and probably nervous, he placed his faith in the goodness of the King and responded to his invitation. He goes to the palace and instead of receiving death, he receives David’s grace and becomes part of the royal family.
And there are some things that we need to do about God’s offer of redemption. Let me share 3 with you: 1st- We need to receive god’s grace. It would be insane
for one swimming to Hawaii to refuse the free offer of a cruise. It is crazier still for a person in sin to reject Jesus Christ, trying to live on his own. Heb. 2:4 asks, "How
shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?"(NIV) And if you have never accepted God’s offer of grace, you need to do that today. Don’t think you can wait to the last minute and then pull off some kind of death bed confession. Because the problem with that thinking is that none of us knows when we are going to die and further your laboring under the mistaken notion that the life of sin is the best life. Take it from one who’s been in both places. Though accepting God’s grace does not promise you a life without thorns, I am here to tell you that with Jesus Christ you can have the best life here and now! A life of peace, a life of freedom because of obedience. Ever talked to someone who is steeped in sin? Someone who knows deep down they are wrong but won’t admit it? When they finally hit bottom or come to their senses and they give themselves fully to the Lord they are like a new person. They have been freed from their guilt and they have new hope. Don’t miss this: God’s grace offers an eternity in the here after, but it also offers the best life here and now.
Now, the Bible says that we need to receive this offer of Grace. John 1:12 says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." (NASB) How do you do that? Eph. 2:8 tells us: "Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ."(LB) If you put your faith in Jesus you can be cleansed of all sin. Now, if you have faith in someone, you really trust them, and you’ll want to do what they say. And if you have faith in Jesus then you’ll want to do what God’s word says. And the Bible gives us 4 things to express your trust or faith in God. You’ll repent or turn from your sins, tell God that you don’t want to live just for yourself anymore, that you want to live for him. You’ll confess, say you believe in Jesus publicly. And as you surrender your life to Him you will be baptized as a believer. In Acts 2 when the people said, "What shall we do to be saved?" Peter replied, "Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." And all through the N.T. when people surrendered their life to Christ they were baptized into Him. That was the pattern then and it hasn’t changed. You must receive God’s grace.
If I as that police officer, wrote you a check to fix your car and pay for that sign you wouldn’t of earned that - it would be a free gift. But you’d have to take it from me, you’d have to appropriate it by cashing the check. That doesn’t mean you earned it, but you have appropriated, you received it. God gives you the free gift of salvation but you have to receive it, you have to appropriate it for your life. This may be the most important thing you ever hear: If you have never put your faith in Christ, if you have never repented of your sin, said out loud you believe in Him and been baptized into Jesus’ name as a believer, you need to do that ASAP! Because without receiving God’s grace through responding in the way the Giver has asked you have no promise.
(2) Enjoy god’s grace! I meet Christians from time to time who think they are still under law. Their life is so restricted, so rigid, trying so hard to obey every law in order to earn God’s favor, that they never have any joy in their life. We need to understand that we are free under grace! We are free to overcome sin, we are free to abide in grace, we are even free to fail and get back up! (Pig & sheep?)Now that doesn’t mean we just go out and live “like sin.” If you are a Christian you are to be living a new life. And it means if you were picked up by that cruise ship, you’d be so joyous that if the captain asked, "Would you do this for me?" You’d do it.. out of gratitude to him, not to earn the trip. Enjoy God’s grace!
(3) And we also need to share God’s grace! If you did get picked up by that cruise ship when you were trying to swim to Hawaii, what’s the first thing you would do? I’ll guarantee it! You would run to the edge of that ship and call out to your family, your loved ones and your friends, "Come on aboard, this is wonderful. You don’t have to try and make it on your own." If you really believe that it’s true that you’re saved by God’s grace, that you can’t save yourself or make it on your own, and you really care about people; then your going to say, "Put your faith in Jesus Christ, He’ll save you and you can liver forever with Him!"
Mephibosheth didn’t boast he was Jonathan’s son. He didn’t say, "I deserve to be saved." He said, "David, who am I that you would even notice me?" And on that last day there will be no room for boasting from us. We’ll simply say, "Lord, who am I that you would extend your grace to Me?" When I stand before God I’m not going to be able to say, "Well, God, I deserve to go to heaven. I became a Christian when I was 10, I went to Bible College, I tithed, I gave up a solid career in Law Enforcement to re-enter the ministry, I studied my Bible and preached a lot." I’m going to have to fall to my knees and say, "Oh, Lord I know my heart." And I’m going to have to say with the song writer, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling."
Lloyd Ogilvie is currently the Chaplain for the U.S. Senate. He tells of the time he was introduced at a woman’s luncheon in an unusual way. The introducer said, "We are happy to have with us today a man who is known by thousands. This man has significantly changed the lives of people all over the world and we are fortunate to have Him with us today, his name? Jesus Christ - and here’s Lloyd Ogilvie to tell us about Him." Oh, that’s it. “Nothing in our hands I bring, simply to the cross we cling." And that only by the amazing grace of God that saved a wretch like me.
